New | More regulatory fines against banks on the way - Wolfsberg Group
Global banks still in cross-hairs of regulators
Banks that thought the epoch of record-setting regulatory fines was drawing to a close should think again: there’s plenty more to come, a representative from the Wolfsberg Group said at a conference in Singapore on Wednesday.
“I’m not holding my breath to see any less fines anytime soon,” said Markus Schulz, a representative from the group, an association of 13 of the world’s biggest banks that seeks to develop guidelines on financial crime.
Schulz was speaking at Sibos, a global conference put on by the financial infrastructure organisation SWIFT.
Over the past three years, regulators have dished out several multi-billion dollar fines to some of the world’s largest financial institutions, many of which are part of Wolfsberg.
Schulz’s dour tone on the near term for banks and the massive fines hanging over their heads comes from the time – most likely years - it will take for new compliance systems and checks to begin stemming money laundering and terrorist finance infringements.
The so-called “capital punishment” hitting banks today are often connected to cases that occurred more than five years ago.