CBN fines Access Bank Plc over forex offence, money laundering

The Central Bank of Nigeria and the Securities and Exchange Commission have sanctioned Access Bank Plc and four other financial institutions for committing over 20 various infractions, including the violation of foreign exchange market and anti-money laundering regulations.

The five lenders reported a combined fine of N1.46bn, according to the half-year 2021 financial results filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

In line with regulatory rules, banks are required to include sanctions and fine imposed on them by regulatory agencies in their audited financial reports.

Access Bank reported N189.65m fine in the period under review. The CBN imposed N100m fine on the bank in respect of failure to comply with its guidelines on Diaspora remittances.

Other fines imposed on Access Bank by the CBN and SEC include the sum of N2.9m in respect of delayed response to the queries of the SEC on cases with two customers and N2m in respect of the violation of CBN’s directive on migration of some accounts to a specified product.

The lender was further fined N80m for contravening the CBN’s forex regulations between January 1, 2013 and July 31, 2020. It was also fined N0.5m by SEC for contravening the regulator rule for receiving bank.

The apex capital market regulating body further asked Access Bank to pay N0.5m as fine in respect of a shareholder’s complaint on dividend. The CBN also imposed N2m on the lender in respect of a consumer protection report for the period from July to December 2020.

In addition, Access Bank was fined N2.25m for allegedly failing to comply with the CBN’s Anti-Money Laundering and Counter-Terrorism Financing regulations and Know-Your-Customer policies in respect of a customer’s account.