Guaranty Trust Bank UK reaches settlement with the FCA in connection with historical AML controls

Guaranty Trust Bank UK reaches settlement with the FCA in connection with historical AML
controls
10 January 2023 – Guaranty Trust Bank UK Limited (GTBank UK) has reached settlement with
the FCA, accepting findings in relation to historical Anti-Money Laundering (AML) controls in its
operations in the period October 2014 to July 2019.
The Bank has cooperated fully with the FCA investigation and has agreed a penalty sum of
GBP7,671,800, which has been calculated by reference to a proportion of the revenues of
GTBank UK over the relevant period and includes a 30% discount for early settlement.
The FCA’s investigation focused on GTBank UK’s AML controls and steps taken by GTBank UK to
remediate these to ensure they operated in line with the relevant requirements. The findings
are final, and no further action is anticipated in respect of this matter. The FCA acknowledged in
its findings that GTBank UK has spent considerable time and resource in order to bring its AML
standards up to the required level.
Commenting on the issue, Managing Director of GTBank UK, Mr. Gbenga Alade, said: “As a
responsible financial services institution that is committed to best practices, GTBank UK takes
its AML obligations extremely seriously. We note with sincere regret the FCA’s findings
regarding AML control gaps in our operations in the past and we are very sorry for this.”
He further stated; “We would like to assure all our stakeholders and the general public that
necessary steps have been taken to address and resolve the identified gaps. Whilst there was
no direct customer impairment arising from the period under review [and the FCA’s findings do
not include any instances of suspected money laundering], we have since reinforced our AML
control framework and implemented changes in our AML processes in line with best practice
with a view to ensuring that the highest standards are maintained in our operations.”
The Guaranty Trust Banking Group, including GTBank UK, is fully committed to the fight against
all forms of financial crime and to continuing to meet all applicable financial crime regulations
and legislation globally. Our AML policies and controls, together with our overall risk
management strategy, are regularly reviewed and revised to ensure that they remain relevant
and current in line with the evolving regulatory requirements.