Commerzbank Fined $47 Million for Anti-Money-Laundering Failures
- German bank’s London unit had inadequate controls in place
- Fine is latest money-laundering censure for European lender
Photographer: Alex Kraus/Bloomberg
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Commerzbank AG was fined 37.8 million pounds ($47 million) in the U.K. for a lack of money-laundering controls at its London unit, as regulators step up pressure on banks to combat the flow of illicit funds.
Germany’s second-largest listed lender didn’t conduct timely due diligence on a “significant number” of customers and failed to fix weaknesses in an automated tool used to monitor transactions for money-laundering risks, the Financial Conduct Authority said in announcing the fine. Commerzbank failed to take steps to improve controls despite a series of warnings from the U.K. watchdog and multiple investigations in the U.S.