LONDON—The U.K.’s financial watchdog, the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA), is investigating British digital bank Monzo over potential breaches of anti-money laundering and financial crime rules.
The challenger bank is one of the several banks to which the financial watchdog sent letters in May this year, warning of failings in anti-money laundering controls, UK Tech News reported.
The digital bank revealed this information as it released the company’s annual report.
“In May 2021, the FCA notified us that it had started an investigation into our compliance with the Money Laundering Regulations 2017, potential breaches of some of the FCA Principles for Businesses and related FCA rules for anti-money laundering and financial crime systems and controls between 1 October 2018 to 30 April 2021,” Monzo said in its annual report.
Complying With Requests
The fintech startup said it is complying fully with the FCA’s investigation.
“Over the past year we have made major investments in our controls in this area as a priority and will continue to invest heavily in this part of the business,” the annual report added. “The FCA’s investigation remains at an early stage. Our operations are unaffected, and we remain committed to serving our customers. This could have a material negative impact on our financial position, but we won’t know when or what the outcome will be for some time.”