Dubai’s DFSA fines financial institution Mirabaud $3 million for anti-money laundering controls failings

The DFSA’s investigation targeted on the dealing with of transactions for a gaggle of 9 interconnected consumer accounts managed by the identical Relationship Supervisor. These transactions exhibited a number of traits indicating potential cash laundering, comparable to intently related people opening accounts, funds coming from third-party accounts, complicated and inconsistent transactions, and important transfers to entities with opaque international possession buildings, as acknowledged within the Authority’s assertion.

Though the DFSA did not uncover direct proof of cash laundering, it discovered Mirabaud’s weak techniques and controls did not establish and deal with essential indicators of potential cash laundering. “Though Mirabaud put in place AML insurance policies and procedures, they had been ineffective. When processing transactions for this group of interconnected prospects, Mirabaud failed to think about info it held about them, together with that which had been obtained as a part of the financial institution’s buyer due diligence,” DFSA mentioned in a press release. Consequently, Mirabaud processed a considerable quantity of suspicious transactions for these interconnected prospects over almost three and a half years, breaching its personal insurance policies.

Mirabaud’s failures prolonged to recognizing and reporting suspicious transactions, even after intervention by its compliance division attributable to insufficient responses.

The DFSA additionally discovered that Mirabaud failed to offer enough proof of shoppers’ monetary market expertise, required for his or her classification as Skilled Shoppers. The Authority recognized cases the place claimed monetary market expertise was solely based mostly on an undocumented evaluation by the connection supervisor, elevating doubts about its credibility.

As a result of severity of those failings, the connection supervisor chargeable for these prospects and people holding the roles of senior govt officer and chief compliance officer in the course of the related time interval have all left Mirabaud.

“By failing to make sure that its AML techniques and controls had been efficient, Mirabaud didn’t recognise clear indicators of potential cash laundering or take the suitable motion when it had issues about prospects’ exercise,” mentioned Ian Johnston, CEO of the DFSA. “The extent of penalty imposed on Mirabaud displays the significance of AML compliance in sustaining confidence within the integrity of the DIFC.”