Dubai fines bank for inadequate anti-money laundering controls
Dubai Financial Services Authority (DFSA) has fined $3 million or 11,100,131 dirhams on the Mirabaud (Middle East) Limited or Mirabaud bank for failing to have adequate anti-money laundering (AML) systems and controls between June 2018 and October 2021. The Dubai financial regulator found that «weaknesses in Mirabaud’s AML systems and controls meant that it processed transactions, for a group of nine interconnected client accounts managed by the same Relationship Manager, which raised a number of red flags related to suspicions of money laundering.» The DFSA however did not find that any of these transactions were in fact money laundering but the regulator said the activities of the relevant customer accounts exhibited characteristics similar to those commonly seen in the layering phase of a money laundering operation.
The transactions, according to the regulator, highlighted significant weaknesses in Mirabaud’s systems and controls and presented key indicators of potential money laundering that the bank «should have recognised and acted upon.» The relationship manager responsible for these customers has since left Mirabaud, as have the individuals that held the roles of senior executive officer and chief compliance officer during the time these failings occurred. Although Mirabaud had put in place anti-money laundering policies and procedures, they were ineffective, the regulator said.
«When processing transactions for this group of interconnected customers, Mirabaud failed to consider information it held about them, including that which had been obtained as part of the bank’s customer due diligence. As a result, Mirabaud processed a significant volume of transactions for these customers, both in quantity and value,
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