Foreign exchange operations: SBP imposes Rs 35.62 million monetary penalty on major bank

The State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) has imposed a monetary penalty of amounted to Rs 35 million on Habib Bank Limited for "violations in the areas of Foreign Exchange operations".

The SBP takes supervisory enforcement actions against those institutions that fail to comply with legal or regulatory requirements and these actions may range from imposition of penalties, administrative & financial sanctions and reference to concerned law enforcement/ prosecution agencies.

As per announcement, since July, the State Bank is officially disclosing the significant enforcement actions against those banks, which are violating SBP's rules and regulation.

During October 2019, only one bank i.e. Habib Bank Limited was penalized with Rs 35.62 million monetary penalty for violations in the areas of Foreign Exchange operations and Customer Due Diligence.

As per SBP, monetary penalty was imposed mainly on deficiencies in the areas of foreign trade operations and customer due diligence. The bank has been advised timelines to bring improvements in its systems/controls to avoid recurrence of such lapses/violations in future, it added.

Copyright Business Recorder, 2019