Swiss regulator rebukes two other banks in money laundering investigation from Venezuela

Switzerland’s financial regulator chastised two other banks in the country for failing to comply with their obligations to combat money laundering by concluding a five-year investigation into lenders’ dealings with people with ties to Venezuelan state oil company PDVSA.

The control body of FINMA contacted 30 Swiss banks during its investigation. He has already taken actions against two former executive directors of the private bank Julius Baer and criticized Swiss credit for breaches of anti-corruption measures.

FINMA He has now reprimanded five banks in total since the investigation began in 2016.

In the final case disclosed Thursday, the regulator criticized Banca Zarattini & Co SA and CBH Compagnie Bancaire Helvétique SA.

FINMA found that both Banca Zarattini in the period between 2014 and 2018 and CBH Bank between 2012 and 2020 failed to comply with their obligations to combat money laundering and the rules to implement an adequate risk management policy, a serious violation of the law of supervision.

“The banks were unable to clarify the sufficient economic background in business relationships and transactions with higher money laundering risks. Adequate documentation was also lacking in these areas“, he pointed.

FINMA imposed a temporary ban on the acceptance of new politically exposed clients of Venezuelan nationality at Banca Zarattini. The measures imposed on CBH Bank include the closure of all remaining business relationships with Venezuelan clients.

Banca Zarattini said it contacted the regulator as soon as it was informed of the possible problems and cooperated with the investigation. Since then, it has improved its anti-money laundering and compliance systems.

“The bank accepts without reservation the conclusions reached by the supervisory authority in relation to the deficiencies found in the way in which it combats money laundering, highlighting that these deficiencies only refer to a limited period and a restricted number of relationships with Venezuelan clients.”, He indicated.

In a separate statement, CBH noted that FINMA had not imposed sanctions against the bank or staff and that the lender had already made decisions that address the restrictions imposed by the regulator.