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HomeUK NewsNatWest facing criminal proceedings over money laundering regulations

NatWest facing criminal proceedings over money laundering regulations

NatWest, whose parent company remains 60% owned by the taxpayer, is due to appear in court over these allegations of next month

The City watchdog has launched a set of criminal proceedings against the bank NatWest for allegedly failing to comply with the UK’s money laundering regulations.

NatWest has been accused by the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) of failing to adhere to the nation’s regulations within the time period between November of 2011 and October of 2016.

This case relates to the handling of funds from a single UK incorporated customer of the bank, which has not yet been named.

NatWest is a subsidiary of the state-backed NatWest group, which was previously known as the Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS).

This comes after UK goods exports to the EU fell by 40.7% in January, according to the Office for National Statistics (ONS), with imports dropping by 28.8%. The figures show that the biggest drop since records began back in 1997, and are the first since the new trading rules between the UK and the EU have come into force.

The FCA has said in a statement that: “The case arises from the handling of funds deposited into accounts operated by a UK incorporated customer of NatWest.

“The FCA alleges that increasingly large cash deposits were made into the customer’s accounts.

“It is alleged that around £365m was paid into the customer’s accounts, of which around £264m was in cash.

“It is alleged that NatWest’s systems and controls failed to adequately monitor and scrutinise this activity.”

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NatWest is now due to appear at the proceedings in Westminster Magistrates’ Court in April.

The FCA have said that it was its first criminal prosecution that it had carried out under the 2007 money laundering regulations and that it was the first time that any bank had face any prosecution under these rules.

“No individuals are being charged as part of these proceedings,” the watchdog said.

This comes after Prince William has said that the Royal family is not racist and that he has not yet spoken to his brother Harry since his and Meghan’s shocking interview. When he was asked whether or not he had spoken to his brother Prince Harry yet, the Duke of Cambridge replied by saying: “I haven’t spoken to him yet but I plan to.”

NatWest, which curretnyl remains 62% owned by the taxpayer following bail-out of the RBS during the financial crisis, has said that it had been cooperating with the investigation by the FCA, having been notified of it back in 2017.

The bank has said in a statement: “NatWest group takes extremely seriously its responsibility to seek to prevent money laundering by third parties and accordingly has made significant, multi-year investments in its financial crime systems and controls.”

Shares opened about 2% lower following this announcement.

Eve Cooper
Eve Cooper
I've been writing articles and stories for as long as I can remember and in the past few years I've had the fortune of turning that love & passion for writing into my job :)

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