A research conducted by Fenergo has shown that banks received almost $10 billion worth of fines in 15 months through 2019 and is expected to increase in 2020. The total fines between 2008 and 2018 were $26 billion, with 2015 recording the highest. About 60.5% of the fines came from banks that violated the anti-money laundering, 38.7% from transactions with countries under sanctions – $3.67 billion issued by the U.S regulators. Fines resulting in violation of privacy laws barely reached $1 million, about 0.01% of the total fines. The research further showed that the rise in the fines came from the US regulators especially, issuing stiffer penalties on banks abroad versus those in their country.
Fenergo CEO, Marc Murphy has noted that the new complex regulations have proved to be a big challenge for the compliance departments of many banks including the know-your-customers rules. He added that many of the instances resulting in fines for the banks could have been avoided only if better software technology was deployed. The research company has predicted significant growth in the amount of fines for the coming years.
