The repercussions of the coronavirus pandemic continued to have a detrimental impact on banks and financial institutions in 2021, making it another challenging year for the financial industry. As service providers and financial regulators reacted to a changing risk landscape and a variety of emergent Covid-19-inspired criminal techniques, this trend featured a slew of new compliance issues.

The increasing regulatory attention is reflected in the number of 2021 AML fines levied. After investigations are concluded, 2021 AML fines are likely to surpass $2.22 billion, matching the figure in 2020. In light of these numbers, several authorities conducted major enforcement measures against banks and financial organizations under their jurisdiction in 2021.  There are some many worldwide Anti-Money Laundering compliance failures in 2021 instances such as :

2021 AML Fines: Deutsche Bank and Discovery Life / $1,921,695.16

The SARB penalized Deutsche Bank and Discovery Life for failing to comply with the FIC Act, which prohibits money laundering and terrorism funding. The central bank emphasized sanctioning the bank due to weak management and controls. Cash criteria were not reported by Discovery Life. Deutsche failed both fundamental and comprehensive due diligence.

2021 AML Fines: AmBank / $700,000,000

AmBank, which is  a Malaysian bank, has agreed to pay the Malaysian government $700 million for its involvement in the 1MDB affair. In one instance, the Saudi royal family paid former Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Razak $681 million. Razak was found guilty of money laundering and corruption in connection with the 1MDB embezzlement plot. AmBank’s profits are expected to suffer as a result of the heavy fines.

2021 AML Fines: Capital One / $390,000,000

Capital One was fined by the US Treasury’s Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN) for willful and careless violations of the Bank Secrecy Act. Capital One was found to have neglected to report hundreds of suspicious activity and transactions to FinCEN. Millions of dollars in questionable transactions went missed in a cash-checking unit between 2008 and 2014. Over $16 billion in unreported trades occurred.

2021 AML Fines: Deutsche Bank / $130,000,000

Deutsche Bank agreed to pay more than $130 million in fines for breaches of the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA). The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) of the United States determined that a German bank paid over a million dollars in bribes and millions more in consultants to expand its global business.

2021 AML Fines: DNBA / $48,000,000

The largest financial services company in Norway, DNB ASA, was fined $48.1 million for money laundering offenses. It reported that a preliminary regulatory assessment revealed significant AML compliance concerns. The offenses were in breach of Norway’s previous money laundering legislation, but the sanctions were only for AML offenses. The bank vowed to improve its anti-money laundering policies.

2021 AML Fines: Rietumu / $6,900,000

Rietumu Bank was fined $6.9 million for anti-money laundering and counter-terrorism violations. In 2019, the FCMC assessed whether the bank’s internal controls and systems could detect and manage risks locally. It was concluded that the bank’s risk assessment of payment service providers was inadequate.

2021 AML Fines: ING / $3,600,000

The French AML authority, the Autorité de contrôle prudentiel et de résolution (ACPR), sanctioned ING for failings in AML and countering funding of -terrorism. The regulator ruled that ING lacked full information on the payers and payees of credit transfers that exceeded payment criteria.