ZURICH: Swiss financial watchdog FINMA has sanctioned private bank Coutts for breaching money-laundering regulations in its business relationships with Malaysia’s scandal-tainted sovereign wealth fund 1MDB.
“Coutts has seriously breached money-laundering regulations by failing to carry out adequate background checks into business relationships and transactions associated with Malaysian sovereign wealth fund 1MDB,” FINMA said in a statement on Thursday.
FINMA said it ordered the bank to disgorge unlawfully generated profits of CHF6.5 million ($6.56 million) and will also consider opening enforcement proceedings against the bank employees responsible.
In December, Singapore’s central bank imposed a penalty of 2.4 million Singapore dollars (CHF1.7 million) on Coutts, which was sold by Royal Bank of Scotland to Union Bancaire Privée in March 2015, for money-laundering breaches related to 1MDB.
