Hong Kong’s Insurance Authority has fined FWD Life Insurance HK$19.5 million for insufficient anti-money laundering controls.
The regulator found shortcomings in the company’s payor identification controls on third-party payments, controls on potentially suspicious transactions including cash payments, data capture and screening of politically exposed persons, and conducting customer due diligence on particular transactions.
FWD has implemented a series of measures to address the identified issues and to bolster its governance, controls and oversight, following the IA’s on-site inspection, the regulator said in a statement on Thursday.
The IA acknowledges the insurer’s early acceptance of the findings and its commitment to remediating the identified issues and enhancing its governance and controls, the statement said.
All authorized insurers carrying on long-term business must have in place effective anti-money laundering and counter-terrorist financing controls and procedures to combat money laundering and terrorist financing activities, which is vital to maintaining Hong Kong’s position as an international finance center, the regulator stressed.
In a statement, FWD said it acknowledged the findings of the routine AML inspection for the Hong Kong business in 2023.
With regulatory compliance as its top priority, remediation is substantially complete for the areas identified for improvement, FWD said.
It confirmed that there had been no onboarding of non-eligible customers following a thorough review of customers who were onboarded during the relevant period.
FWD cooperated closely with the IA and is fully committed to making ongoing investments in people, systems, and processes to ensure it meets the high standards expected of the company, the statement added.
