Middle East

NY fines UAE's largest bank over lax money-laundering safeguards

New York state financial regulators on Wednesday fined the Dubai-based Mashreqbank USD40 million, saying it cleared millions of high-risk transactions with scant safeguards against money laundering and terrorism finance.

The bank's New York branch kept shoddy records and had internal controls that were not sufficient to prevent violations of US sanctions, according to the New York Department of Financial Services.

"Mashreqbank failed to fully comply with critical New York and federal banking laws aimed at combating international money laundering, terrorist financing and other related threats," DFS Superintendent Maria Vullo said in a statement.

Mashreqbank is the UAE's oldest and largest lender, with branches across the Middle East and Asia.

READ THE ARTICLE by THE BANGKOK POST