New York Tells Habib Bank to Hire Laundering Monitor

[ArsalanKhan21]

The criminal and corrupt politicians are money laundering using Pakistani banks.

New York Tells Top Pakistan Bank to Hire Laundering Monitor - Bloomberg Business

New York Tells Top Pakistan Bank to Hire Laundering Monitor
Greg Farrell gregfarrel
December 17, 2015 — 12:26 PM EST Updated on December 17, 2015 — 1:00 PM EST

• Habib Bank must limit dollar clearing, new accounts, DFS says
• Regulator's order issued without fines, details of findings

New York’s banking regulator ordered Habib Bank Ltd. to limit its dollar-clearing activities and hire a monitor to oversee its internal financial controls, saying Pakistan’s largest lender had failed to improve its operations in the U.S. since irregularities were flagged there almost a decade ago.

In an order Thursday, New York’s Department of Financial Services forbade the bank from taking on new correspondent accounts in the U.S. without written approval. It called for Habib to hire an outside monitor to oversee its anti-money laundering controls and its dollar clearing transactions, with an eye toward ensuring that none of those transactions violated U.S. sanctions imposed through the Treasury Department’s Office of Foreign Assets Control.

“We take our regulatory responsibilities seriously,” Manochere Alamgir, general manager of Habib’s New York branch, said in a phone interview. “We have already taken several steps to address and mediate those concerns and we intend to make sure everything gets done in a way that is acceptable to all the stakeholders, including the regulators.”

The consent order filed by DFS doesn’t identify any wrongful conduct, specify any transactions that violated sanctions laws or assess any financial penalty. It references a similar agreement between Habib and New York state in 2006, saying Habib didn’t “achieve full compliance with each and every provision” of the earlier agreement.

As of earlier this year, Habib Bank was Pakistan’s largest lender, as measured by assets. The Pakistani government privatized the bank in April, selling its 42 percent stake for $1.02 billion.

The order resulted from a recent examination of the bank conducted by DFS and Federal Reserve Bank of New York, according to the state regulator.

 

[Stag112]

They (habib bank zurich) were also fined by the FSA (UK regulator then) for same reasons, for failing to do KYC checks etc.

FSA fines Habib Bank AG Zurich £525,000 and money laundering reporting officer £17,500 for anti-money laundering control failings

They do have shady operations and a large no of employees are actually relatives etc.

 

[ArsalanKhan21]

What a shame ! These criminal corrupt politicians using Pakistan's largest bank to launder money in US. They don't realize that US has strict enforcement laws and now Pakistan's largest bank is tainted.

• U.S. Hits N.Y. Branch of Pakistan Bank with Enforcement Order - WSJ
• Markets
  U.S. Hits N.Y. Branch of Pakistan Bank with Enforcement Order
  Habib Bank, Pakistan’s largest private bank, curbed from dollar-clearing and new accounts
  By
  Ryan Tracy
  Updated Dec. 17, 2015 11:15 a.m. ET
  0 COMMENTS
  U.S. authorities slapped Pakistan’s largest private bank with a strict enforcement order Thursday, saying they found “significant breakdowns” in the bank’s anti-money laundering program.
  
  The order from the Federal Reserve restricts the New York branch of Habib Bank Ltd. from increasing the amount and number of dollar-clearing transactions until it fixes the problems. It is also restricted from opening new dollar-clearing accounts or new correspondent accounts with foreign banks.
  
  Dollar-clearing is a service that banks provide for customers to transfer money into and out of the U.S.
  
  The Pakistani bank had already promised the Fed it would fix anti-money-laundering problems under an enforcement order issued in 2006.
  
  A representative of the bank could not be immediately reached. The order was signed by the firm’s head of international banking in Europe, the Middle East, and Asia.
  
  Write to Ryan Tracy at ryan.tracy@wsj.com

 

[Faiez]

They (habib bank zurich) were also fined by the FSA (UK regulator then) for same reasons, for failing to do KYC checks etc.

FSA fines Habib Bank AG Zurich £525,000 and money laundering reporting officer £17,500 for anti-money laundering control failings

They do have shady operations and a large no of employees are actually relatives etc.

Habib Bank AG Zurich is a separate bank (not exactly related).

Mr. Habib was a guy who originally founded Habib Bank in the subcontinent (British India). Then shifted headquarters to Pakistan after independence. Then this bank got nationalized (the gov. took over). So Mr. Habib went abroad to start Habib Bank AG Zurich. Later on the family setup Bank Al Habib in Pakistan.