Al Rayan Bank Responds To UK Financial Conduct Authority Fine Over Money Laundering Control Failures

The UK Financial Conduct Authority announced today that it had fined Al Rayan Bank plc 4 million pounds for failing to put in place adequate controls to prevent money laundering.

In response to the FCA announcement, Giles Cunningham, Chief Executive Officer at Al Rayan Bank, said:

“The FCA identified historic weaknesses in the Bank’s financial crime systems and controls that date back to a period between 2015 and 2017.

“The FCA found no evidence of any money laundering or other criminal activity by the Bank nor its customers and none of the Bank’s existing management were in a senior management function at the time.

“The Bank cooperated fully throughout, and all identified weaknesses have been fully resolved with the support and assistance of external, independent subject matter experts.

“The financial penalty will have no material impact. The Bank remains well capitalised and will report very strong financial results for 2022.

“Maintaining strong defences against the evolving threats of financial crime is an essential part of our business plan and is being led by the new Board and Executive team.”