$10.4 billion has been paid in total by financial institutions for non-complaince with AML, data privacy, KYC, and EU regulations.
In terms of total fines issued we have seen a 141% increase.
Goldman Sachs were hit hardest with a penalty of $6.8 billion relating to the 1MDB scandal.
The Office of Financial Sanctions Implementation (OFSI) fined Standard Chartered (UK) for violating Russia’s sanctions, in 2020. The penalty was of $25.4 million, being the largest ever penalty imposed by the regulators up until MT global was fined last week.
Most fines were received by financial institutions based in the USA totalling $7.489 billion. Goldman Sachs hoever was a huge contributer to this total making up 91% of the figure.
This seeems to be a global trend, with regulators increasinglt weilding teh power to financially punish firms for lax AML/CFT practices. Hopefully this will lead to tighter controls and greater supervision in 2021.
