FSA fines Swiss bank £525,000

The FSA has fined Swiss bank Habib AG Zurich £525,000 for failing to establish and maintain adequate anti-money laundering systems.

Habib is a privately owned Swiss bank with 12 branches in the UK and approximately 15,500 customers.  The FSA's investigation found that between December 15 2007 and November 15 2010, Habib failed to establish and maintain adequate controls for assessing the level of money laundering risk posed by its customers. Habib did have a high-risk country list which excluded certain high-risk countries on the basis that it had group offices in them. However, the FSA found that "Habib's local knowledge of these countries did not negate the higher risk of money laundering they presented". ...