Swedish Bank Penalized for Sanctions Violations

Latvia’s Financial and Capital Market Commission (FCMC) fined a Swedish bank more than $1.8 million dollars for anti-money laundering and sanctions violations, the FCMC said in a Dec. 20 press release. The bank, AS SEB banka, did not “fully” ensure its clients were not participating in money laundering activities, the press release said, and did not properly screen a customer for sanctions violations. After the violations, the bank “independently” improved its anti-money laundering compliance program, FCMC said. The agency also said the “risk level” of the violations were “low” and the bank followed through on the settlement agreement, which included two external audits, an improved “internal documentation” system and an improved information technology system to “monitor customer transactions.”