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UK FSA Issues First AML Penalty Against Individual for Compliance Failings

By Brian Monroe

The United Kingdom's chief financial services regulator Wednesday fined a London-based corporate advisory firm and its anti-money laundering officer, a first for the governmental agency. The UK Financial Services Authority penalized Sindicatum Holdings Limited $81,000 and its money laundering reporting officer (MLRO), Michael Wheelhouse, nearly $29,000. Wheelhouse, who helped found the boutique firm in 2002, is also its company director and a board member. The regulator decided to issue a fine against the MLRO in this case because he was "personally involved" in the failure to identify clients, said FSA press officer Joseph Eyre in an interview Thursday. The penalty...

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