Maputo, 7 Feb (AIM) – The Bank of Mozambique, in its role as regulator of the national financial system, has sanctioned and fined nine credit institutions and financial companies for violating prudential rules regarding preventing and combatting money laundering and terrorist financing, between 2023 and 2024.
The financial institutions in question are: Multicâmbios, E-Mola, Banco Letshego, Banco Société Générale Moçambique, Commercial and Investment Bank (BCI), Absa Bank Moçambique, Moza Banco, First National Bank and Ecobank Moçambique.
These institutions, according to the Bank of Mozambique statement, also violated foreign exchange rules and those relating to the protection of consumer financial products and services.
According to the note, E-Mola, which is a mobile wallet belonging to the Vietnamese mobile phone company MOVITEL, and the Commercial and Investment Bank (BCI) committed the most offences and they are expected to pay fines of over 40 million meticais (626,000 dollars at the current exchange rate).
“E-Mola was fined 44,979,782.00 meticais for the following offences: Inadequate constitution of the board of directors and working committees; Lack of establishment of policies and procedures to address risks related to preventing and combating money laundering and terrorist financing; Lack of reporting of cash transactions above the thresholds, among others”, reads the report.
BCI must pay over 44 million meticais due to various offences, including: Failure to comply with the deadline for responding to Bank of Mozambique notifications in the context of customer complaints; Breach of the duty to apply enhanced due diligence measures when setting up a business relationship with a PEP (politically exposed person); Breach of the duty to apply enhanced measures proportionate to the risks in relation to operations carried out on a bank account, among others.
Among the other fines, “Multicâmbios will have to pay 1,251,692.40 meticais for failing to register exchange operations and not having internal control standards. Banco Letshego will have to pay 1,434,085.00 meticais for failing to comply with the deadline for responding to the Bank of Mozambique notifications in the context of customer complaints”, reads the statement.
According to the central bank, the sanctions are aimed at “strengthening the stability of the national financial system and ensuring compliance with legal rules, promoting public confidence and consumer protection”.
(AIM)
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