JPMorgan ‘Seriously Breached’ Money-Laundering Rules, Swiss Regulator Says
The Swiss Financial Market Supervisory Authority, known as Finma, said Thursday
that it was installing a person inside the bank to monitor and review its money laundering policies, “given the inadequacy of the bank’s controls and the serious breaches which have been identified in this case.”
Swiss authorities, along with counterparts in the United States
and Singapore, opened investigations after money went missing from the fund, 1Malaysia Development Berhad, known as 1MDB.
Brian Marchiony, a JPMorgan spokesman, said the Swiss action “relates to matters
that took place many years ago.” He added that “since that time we have increased training, added staff and made improvements in monitoring and surveillance.”
This is the latest instance of JPMorgan drawing censure for not doing enough to prevent money laundering.
According to Finma, JPMorgan’s Swiss unit helped several individuals tap into the fund, transferring “hundreds of millions of dollars”
that were meant to be used for 1MDB’s purchase of a company to the personal account of someone tied to a 1MDB business partner.
Switzerland’s financial regulator said JPMorgan Chase’s Swiss subsidiary “seriously breached” anti-money laundering rules by completing transactions with a Malaysian government investment fund
that is under investigation in at least six countries.
The bank had to overhaul its anti-money laundering practices as part of an inquiry into whether lapses
in its internal controls had allowed Bernard L. Madoff to keep a $50 billion Ponzi scheme going.