The Reserve Bank of India has imposed a penalty of £200,000 each, on Allahabad Bank and UCO Bank, along with a £100,000 penalty on Bank of India, over violation of anti-money laundering norms. UCO Bank, in a BSE filing said the RBI has "imposed a penalty" of £200,000 on the Bank on account of "few lapses in adherence to KYC/AML guidelines." BOI also said the regulator has "imposed an aggregate penalty" of £100,000 on it for certain violations" of the requirements under Know Your Customer and Anti-Money Laundering.
Also receiving similar penalties were the HDFC Bank and the Punjab National Bank. In a regulatory filing, the private lender said, "Further to the media reports in October 2015 about irregularities in advance import remittances in various banks, the RBI had conducted a scrutiny of the transactions carried out by HDFC Bank." It added, "After considering the bank's submissions, the RBI has imposed a penalty of £200,000 on the bank on account of pendency in receipt of bills of entry relating to advance import remittances made on lapses in adhering to KYC/AML guidelines in this respect."
Bank of Baroda said, "The RBI has imposed a penalty of £500,000 on Bank of Baroda. Pursuant to the internal audit of the Bank of Baroda, the RBI and investigative agencies in October 2015 were advised by the bank of certain irregularities observed." The primary bank carried out investigation and noted the deficiences which reflected the weaknesses and failures in internal control mechanisms in respect of certain AML provisions.
