Absa fined R10 million for monitoring failures

The South African Reserve Bank’s Prudential Authority has imposed an administrative fine of R10 million on Absa Bank for failing to conduct a thorough review of certain clients.

These clients included two politically exposed persons, four foreign prominent public officials and three domestic prominent influential persons. 

According to the Financial Intelligence Centre Act (FICA), banks are required to scrutinise such individuals, along with their immediate family members and close associates, due to the increased risk of money laundering and other financial crimes. 

Additionally, the Prudential Authority found that Absa was slow in addressing thousands of alerts generated by its automated transaction monitoring system, which is designed to flag unusual or suspicious transactions. 

Despite these findings, the regulator confirmed that Absa cooperated fully with the investigation.

The bank has since taken the necessary remedial actions to address compliance deficiencies and control weaknesses identified during the review.