tl;dr
The Federal Reserve and New York Department of Financial Services (DFS) announced a multi-million dollar settlement with the Industrial and Commercial Bank of China (ICBC) for multiple violations, including failure to follow the Bank Secrecy Act and Anti-Money Laundering laws. The DFS issued a cease...
The Federal Reserve and New York Department of Financial Services (DFS) just announced a multi-million dollar settlement with a Beijing-based banking giant. The Industrial and Commercial Bank of China (ICBC) will pay a total of $32.4 million for failing to follow the Bank Secrecy Act and Anti-Money Laundering laws, neglecting to report backdated documents, and revealing confidential information without prior approval from regulators.
In March of 2018, the DFS issued a cease and desist order to ICBC's New York branch after an examination revealed inadequate anti-money laundering protocols. The order required ICBC’s New York branch to improve multiple areas in its systems, including suspicious activity monitoring and reporting. However, some issues persisted for several years even after repeated reviews. Furthermore, a former relationship manager at ICBC’s New York branch backdated compliance documents at the direction of a senior employee.
In addition, ICBC violated New York Banking Law by disclosing confidential supervisory information without prior authorization in late 2021. The information divulged involved details about regulatory investigations on the bank’s New York branch. As part of the settlement, ICBC is required to submit a written plan detailing improvements in compliance policies, procedures, corporate governance, and customer due diligence requirements.
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