New York’s reserve bank directs UBL to strengthen anti money-laundering policies

The Federal Reserve Bank of New York (FRBNY), one of the 12 Federal Reserve Banks of the United States, has directed Pakistan’s United Bank Limited (UBL) and its New York branch to strengthen its anti money-laundering policies.

“UBL and its New York branch have entered into a Written Agreement (WA 2018) with the FRBNY, effective July 2, 2018, upon termination of the earlier Written Agreement entered into on 28 October 2013(WA 2013), which was primarily related to the New York branch’s international remittance services,” stated UBL in its filing to Pakistan Stock Exchange (PSX).

“The WA 2018 requires UBL to take steps to strengthen its

bank secrecy act and anti money laundering compliance, customer due diligence and suspicious activity monitoring and reporting programmes,” the statement added, as FRBNY ‘identified compliance and risk management deficiencies at the branch in this product line,’ read the WA 2018 agreement .

“Although FRBNY imposes no civil penalty on UBL, the disclosure regarding the signing of WA 2018 is being made as an update to the Written Agreement earlier signed on October 28, 2013 (WA 2013),” the notification reads.

UBL added it is undertaking all steps to “further strengthen its Compliance Framework to fully comply with the WA 2018.”