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Japanese Regulators Break Usual Silence to Punish Citigroup For AML Deficiencies
By Brian Orsak
printJapan's financial regulator ordered Citibank's Japanese arm to suspend its retail sales operations for a month over anti-money laundering deficiencies, marking the second high-profile enforcement action against the bank. The country's Financial Services Agency (FSA) ordered the 30-day suspension Friday, citing weaknesses in Citibank Japan's suspicious activity reporting and internal audit controls. The enforcement action is the second levied by the agency against the bank, which was forced to shut down its private banking operations in 2004 over anti-money laundering problems. The publicized sanction is an unusual move for the FSA, an organization that has rarely made headlines, according to...
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