Panama City, Jul 26 (EFE) .- The Superintendency of Banks of Panama (SBP) sanctioned the Bank of China with 1.25 million dollars, for breaches and violations of the banking regime and the prevention of money laundering, reported this Monday the regulator.
The sanctions against the Bank of China, which are listed on the Superintendency’s website, are one for $ 1,000,000 for violations of the banking regime, and another for $ 250,000 for non-compliance with the money laundering prevention regime.
The penalties imposed on the Bank of China, which has been operating in Panama since July 18, 1984 and has a capital of $ 31,060,000.00, are based on follow-up processes initiated by the SBP in 2016, according to official information.
The Superintendency also penalized Banco Azteca (Panama) with a fine of 5,100 dollars, and The Bank Of Nova Scotia, with 19,270.14 dollars, specifically for failing to comply with the banking regime, based, in the case of the former, on inspections dating back to of 2019, and in the second following an administrative complaint.
Banco Azteca began its operations in Panama on January 3, 2005, and its capital amount is 11,589,061 dollars, while Bank Of Nova Scotia has been operating since October 4, 2010 and its capital is 34,239. $ 1,000, according to institutional data.
The Banking Superintendency said that the fines are related to violations of regulations on the matter, within the legal framework of the banking regime and the regime for the prevention of money laundering and terrorist financing.
The sanctions listed correspond to processes already concluded (in 2021) and whose decisions have already been executed.
In this sense, the regulator points out that “it should be clarified that the sanction imposed on a bank is done for corrective purposes and the publication is done with a dissuasive character.”
“For this reason, the publication of the sanction imposed on a bank, for the commission of some administrative offense, does not represent an adverse opinion on said bank,” the SBP remarked.
