US regulators rebuke CCB over anti-money laundering loopholes
US regulators are scolding China Construction Bank Corp. (CCB) for failing to spot money laundering.
The rebuke comes after loopholes were in found in its New York branch to tackle the illegal movement of tainted money, according to the Wall Street Journal.
No fines were announced.
CCB, one of China’s big four state lenders, was ordered to improve how it responds to regulators’ information requests, identifies risky customers, tracks transaction data, documents and investigates suspicious activity and monitor so-called correspondent accounts with other banks.
The move is part of increased oversight of banks’ anti-money-laundering regimes.
Large overseas firms such as BNP Paribas S.A. and HSBC Holdings Plc. have paid multibillion-dollar penalties for faulty compliance programs.
Tuesday’s announcement did not include a fine but regulators could issue one later if the bank fails to fix the problems or if it is found to have violated anti-money-laundering laws.
The bank also must hire an independent third party to see whether it properly identified and reported suspicious transactions involving exchanges of US dollars and foreign currency during the second half of 2013.
CCB, the second largest state lender by profit, opened in New York in 2009, its first branch in North America.
The New York branch of China Construction Bank has mainly focused on offering trade financing for Chinese companies.
