This archive report was first published on 23 September 2019.
On September 23, 2019, Tanzania's central bank imposed fines on five commercial banks for lax anti-money laundering controls, marking the latest effort to tighten regulation in the financial services sector.
The Bank of Tanzania fined the banks a total of over $800,000 (Sh83 million) for failing to conduct proper customer due diligence and file suspicious transaction reports to the Financial Intelligence Unit.
The banks that received fines were I&M Bank (TSh655 million), Equity Bank (TSh580 million), UBL Bank (Tsh325 million), Habib African Bank (Tsh175 million), and African Banking Corporation (Tsh145 million).
The central bank gave the sanctioned banks three months to implement various anti-money laundering measures, including taking disciplinary action against staff members involved in opening implicated deposit accounts.
Tanzania has been tightening regulatory oversight over commercial banks and other financial institutions in recent years, with the central bank imposing hefty fines on lenders that fail to comply with new regulations.
