KARACHI: The State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) has slapped a heavy monetary penalty of over Rs280 million on the National Bank of Pakistan (NBP) for violating instructions pertaining to Anti-Money Laundering (AML) and Counter Financing of Terrorism (CFT).
The central bank imposed a monetary penalty on four banks during the quarter ended September 30, 2021. The SBP imposed Rs465 million as monetary penalties on the four banks for similar deviation.
The SBP imposed a penalty of Rs132.44 million on Silk Bank Limited, Rs38.55 million on United Bank Limited and Rs13.54 million on Industrial and Commercial Bank of China-Pakistan Branches.
In addition to penal action, the banks have been advised to strengthen its processes with respect to identified areas.
The SBP from July 2019 started public disclosure of penal action against banks. “Enforcement actions are an integral part of a regulatory regime which involves the 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.
