Swiss regulator: JP Morgan violated money-laundering rules

Friday, December 15, 2017, Vol. 41, No. 50

GENEVA (AP) — Switzerland's financial markets regulator says the Swiss division of U.S. bank J.P. Morgan "seriously breached" anti-money laundering rules relating to Malaysian sovereign wealth fund 1MDB.

The agency, FINMA, says the Wall Street bank "failed to adequately identify" increased money laundering risks linked to the "allegedly corrupt" sovereign wealth fund.

FINMA said Thursday that J.P. Morgan had accepted "incomplete or inconsistent information from clients" without examining it or documenting it further.

The regulator also cited shortcomings in the bank's monitoring and control system.

FINMA said it concluded enforcement proceedings against J.P. Morgan in June, and was not imposing any penalties but will conduct an "in-depth review" of the bank's anti-money laundering systems.

It said J.P. Morgan had shown "cooperation" and had not appealed FINMA's decision, which is binding.