PNB fined for anti-money laundering rule violation

MUMBAI: In one of the steepest ever penalties for violation of anti-money laundering rules by a bank, the Financial Intelligence Unit (FIU) has slapped a penalty of over Rs 15 crore on state-run Punjab National Bank.Bank sources said that the lapses were not serious and were largely procedural. “We have 7,000 branches and open some 20,000 accounts every day. We are sensitising our offices,” said an executive, adding that the bank will appeal against the order.Separately, the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has imposed penalties ranging from Rs 1-2 crore on eight public sector lenders for violations related to opening and operating current accounts, discounting of bills, cyber security framework and frauds classification and reporting by commercial banks.“A scrutiny was carried out by RBI in the accounts of the companies of a Group and it was observed that the banks had failed to comply with provisions of one or more of the directions issued by RBI as mentioned above,” the regulator said in a statement.The list includes Allahabad Bank, Bank of Baroda, Bank of India, Bank of Maharashtra, Corporation Bank, Indian Overseas Bank, Oriental Bank of Commerce and Union Bank of India.