Following an on-site inspection carried out by Hong Kong's Insurance Authority (IA) under the Anti-Money Laundering and Counter-Terrorist Financing Ordinance (Cap. 615) (AMLO)1,2, FWD Life Insurance Company (Bermuda) has been ordered to pay a pecuniary penalty of HK$19.5m ($2.5m).
The IA found shortcomings in FWD’s payor identification controls on third party payments, controls on potentially suspicious transactions including cash payments, data capture and screening of politically exposed persons, as well as conducting customer due diligence on particular transactions.
According to a statement by the IA, FWD has since implemented a series of measures to address the identified issues and to bolster its governance, controls and oversight.
The IA also acknowledge FWD’s early acceptance of the findings and its commitment to remediating the identified issues and enhancing its governance and controls. In addition, FWD confirmed that, after enhanced reviews, there was no onboarding of non-eligible customers as a result of delayed detection.
Enhanced measures
Since the conclusion of the case, all authorised insurers carrying on long-term business must now have in place effective anti-money laundering and counter-terrorist financing controls and procedures to combat money laundering and terrorist financing activities, which are vital to maintaining Hong Kong’s position as an international finance centre.