UAE Central Bank to take action against Pakistani bank

Dubai - State Bank of Pakistan said in a finding that there were "significant irregularities" in the Habib Bank's dealing.

The UAE Central Bank on Wednesday said it is in close contact with Pakistan's central bank and will take appropriate regulatory actions against a Pakistani bank which has reportedly been found violating the money laundering laws.
"We are in close contact with the home regulator of the Pakistani bank, the State Bank of Pakistan, and will take appropriate regulatory action once we have verified the findings reported in the media to confirm if there was any violation to UAE's Anti-Money Laundering and Combat of Financing of Terrorism (AML/CFT) laws and procedures," the UAE Central Bank said on Wednesday.
Earlier, State Bank of Pakistan, the country's central bank, had said in a finding that there were "significant irregularities" in the Habib Bank Ltd's (HBL) dealing with politically exposed clients and screening some transactions in the Middle East.
HBL admitted that weaknesses were found in its UAE operations in 2017 and later it initiated a business transformation programme which is now largely complete and has put a new leadership in place.
"In 2017, few weaknesses were identified at HBL UAE which contravened our processes and standards. This should never have happened. Over the last two years, we initiated a business transformation programme which is now largely complete. A new senior leadership team is in place," the bank said in the statement.
Bloomberg reported that HBL's UAE employees issued pay orders in their own names to help certain customers disguise transactions. The bank reportedly violated rules when opening an account of Duduzane Zuma, the son of South Africa's ex-President Jacob Zuma. - waheedabbas@khaleejtimes.com