Penalties for violating the Anti-money laundering law by automated Know Your Customer (KYC) solutions reached a total of $8.14bn of fine, with the U.S. taking the lead with 25 penalties amounting to $2.29 billion, followed by the U.K with a total of 12 fines and $388.4 million while only a single fine recorded in France totalled $5.1 billion. Swiss Ban UBS was fine for laundering the proceeds of tax evasion, and standard Chartered was also fined deficiencies in money laundering measures. According to Encompass Corporation, monetary fine in 2019 doubled the total amounts recorded in 2018, most of which were to banks. However, money laundering is no longer seen only in the banks but also in businesses across several other jurisdictions such as Belgium, France, Germany, Hong Kong, Norway, India, Tanzania, Ireland, Latvia, Lithuania, the Netherland, and Belgium. Encompass also added that it expects a significant increase in money laundering activities future years, hence, a need to strengthen anti-money laundering policies.
