Tanzania slaps Kenya’s Equity Bank and 4 other banks Sh83 million over money laundering

In a statement on Monday, Bank of Tanzania (BoT) said the fines running over $800,000 (Sh83 million) were imposed on the 5 commercial banks.
I&M Bank was slapped with the biggest fine at TSh655 million (Ksh29.62 million), followed by Equity Bank (TSh580 million).
The regulator last month gave all banks and financial institutions in Tanzania 90 days to establish primary data centres in the East African nation, saying it will impose hefty fines on lenders that fail to comply.

Tanzania’s central bank has bared its teeth and sunk it onto 5 commercial banks over breach of its anti-money laundering rules.

In a statement on Monday, Bank of Tanzania (BoT) said the fines running over $800,000 (Sh83 million) were imposed over the banks “failure to conduct proper customer due diligence and file suspicious transaction reports to the (state-run) Financial Intelligence Unit (FIU).”

I&M Bank. (HapaKenya) Pulse Live Kenya

I&M Bank was slapped with the biggest fine at TSh655 million (Ksh29.62 million), followed by Equity Bank (TSh580 million), UBL Bank (Tsh325 million), Habib African Bank (Tsh175 million) and African Banking Corporation (Tsh145 million).

The banks were not immediately available for comment.

Equity Bank Group Pulse Live Kenya

In recent years, Tanzania has tightened regulatory oversight over commercial banks and other financial institutions as it moves at tightening regulation in the financial services sector.

The regulator last month gave all banks and financial institutions in Tanzania 90 days to establish primary data centres in the East African nation, saying it will impose hefty fines on lenders that fail to comply.

The country’s financial services sector, which is dominated by lenders like Cooperatives Rural and Development Bank (CRDB) and NMB Bank, has been hit by a spike in bad loans, which have stifled the growth of credit to the private sector.