State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) has imposed monetary penalty of Rs1.68 billion upon at least 15 commercial banks for violating various regulations including anti-money laundering (AML) and counter financing of terrorism (CFT).
The SBP on Saturday released the data of significant enforcement actions by the central bank during March – June 2020.
The top banks are also amongst the list for serious violation of regulations including customers due diligence, known your customer, asset quality, foreign exchange operation, corporate governance and AML/CFT.
| Sr.No | Institution | Nature of Offence | Action Taken | Monetary Penalty (Rupees in million) |
| 1 | United Bank Ltd | Procedural violations in the areas of CDD/KYC, Asset Quality, FX Operations, Corporate Governance | In addition to penal action the bank has been advised to strengthen its processes to avoid recurrence of such violations. | 137.001 |
| 2 | JS Bank Ltd | Procedural Violations in the areas of CDD/KYC, FX Operations | In addition to penal action the bank has been advised to strengthen its processes related to CDD/KYC, to avoid recurrence of such violations in future. | 71.417 |
| 3 | Meezan Bank Ltd | Procedural Violations in the area of CDD/KYC | In addition to penal action the bank has been advised to strengthen its processes to avoid recurrence of such violations. | 81.060 |
| 4 | Faysal Bank Ltd | Procedural violations in the areas of CDD/KYC, Asset Quality, FX Operations | In addition to penal action the bank has been advised to strengthen its processes to avoid recurrence of such violations. | 96.128 |
| 5 | The Bank of Punjab | Procedural violations in the areas of CDD/KYC, Asset Quality, FX Operations, Corporate Governance | In addition to penal action the bank has been advised to strengthen its processes to avoid recurrence of such violations. | 286.333 |
| 6 | Habib Bank Ltd | Procedural Violations in the area of CDD/KYC | In addition to penal action the bank has been advised to strengthen its processes related to CDD/KYC, to avoid recurrence of such violations in future. | 204.217 |
| 7 | MCB Bank Ltd | Procedural Violations in the area of CDD/KYC | In addition to penal action the bank has been advised to strengthen its processes related to CDD/KYC, to avoid recurrence of such violations in future. | 158.474 |
| 8 | National Bank Of | Procedural violations in the areas of CDD/KYC, Asset Quality, FX Operations | In addition to penal action the bank has been advised to strengthen its processes to avoid recurrence of such violations. | 269.810 |
| 9 | Bank Alhabib Ltd | Procedural Violations in the area of CDD/KYC | In addition to penal action the bank has been advised to strengthen its processes related to CDD/KYC, to avoid recurrence of such violations in future. | 46.802 |
| 10 | Habib Metropolitan Bank Ltd | Procedural Violations in the area of CDD/KYC | In addition to penal action the bank has been advised to strengthen its processes related to CDD/KYC, to avoid recurrence of such violations in future. | 22.805 |
| 11 | Bank Alfalah Ltd | Procedural Violations in the area of CDD/KYC | In addition to penal action the bank has been advised to strengthen its processes related to CDD/KYC, to avoid recurrence of such violations in future. | 40.305 |
| 12 | Askari Bank Ltd | Procedural Violations in the area of CDD/KYC | In addition to penal action the bank has been advised to strengthen its processes related to CDD/KYC, to avoid recurrence of such violations in future. | 29.814 |
| 13 | Bank Islami Ltd | Procedural violations in the area of FX Operations | In addition to penal action, the bank has been advised to strengthen its process related to FX operations, in order to avoid recurrence of such violations in future. | 11.517 |
| 14 | Punjab Provincial Cooperative Bank Ltd | Violations in the area of AML/CFT | Penal and administrative action taken against the bank. Moreover, the bank has been advised to conduct an internal inquiry on breaches of regulatory instructions and take disciplinary action against the delinquent officials. | 81.500 |
| 15 | Zarai Taraqiati Bank Ltd | Violations in the area of AML/CFT | Penal and administrative action taken against the bank. Moreover, the bank has been advised to conduct an internal inquiry on breaches of regulatory instructions and take disciplinary action against the delinquent officials. | 147.250 |
The SBP said that these actions are based on deficiencies in regulatory compliance and does not constitute a comment on the financial soundness of the entity.
The SBP from July 2019 started public disclosure of penal action against banks. “Enforcement actions are an integral part of regulatory regime which involves imposition of monetary penalties and other actions against institutions and individuals for violations of laws, rules, regulations, guidelines or directives issued by SBP from time to time,” according to a circular issued by the central bank.
In order to bring more transparency and strengthen market discipline, SBP has decided to publicly disclose significant enforcement actions.
