Bank of Mozambique sanctions commercial banks and managers

Maputo, 25 Dec (AIM) – The Bank of Mozambique has announced that, between October 2022 and December 2023, it sanctioned one of the country’s largest commercial banks, the Banco Comercial e de Investimentos (BCI) with fines of close to 140 million meticais (around two million dollars) for various irregularities, including violations of prudential and foreign exchange rules.

According to a note from the central bank, the penalty extends to 12 senior members of the BCI management, who are obliged to pay fines ranging from 200,000 to three million meticais, depending on the seriousness of the irregularities and their level of involvement.

The Central Bank also decided to sanction four other financial institutions, namely First National Bank Mozambique, SA (FNB) with a fine of over 28 million meticais, Banco Letsego, SA, with a fine of 20 million meticais, Banco Internacional de Moçambique (BIM), with a fine of over 17 million meticais, MyBucks Banking Corporation Mcb, SA, with a fine of eight million meticais. No details of these banking offences were made available.

These commercial bank infractions come at a time when the Mozambican authorities are working to remove the country from the Financial Action Task Force (FATF) grey list, which assesses member countries on the implementation of measures to prevent money laundering and terrorist financing.

The country has two years to get off the list and, to do so, it must comply with a series of recommendations aimed at preventing illicit activities in Mozambique, which include the smooth functioning of the national financial system and the fight against corruption.

(AIM)

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