BRUSSELS, Belgium—The Belgian branch of Dutch multinational bank ING has been hit with a fine of more than €300,000 for failing to enforce anti-money laundering regulations for over a decade despite the “suspicious activity” of a Russian-owned account, The Brussels Times reported.
The €350,000 penalty was imposed by Belgium’s National Bank, who said ING Belgium failed to oversee the activity of the Russian account-holder and for allowing him to remain a customer, The Brussels Times stated.
A spokesperson for ING said that bank staff had brought up the issue with national banking regulators six years ago, and the bank had put “structural improvements” in place since then, The Brussels Times explained.
The fine comes after the Dutch banking and financial services multinational paid a fine of €775 million in 2018, after Dutch authorities opened an investigation against the bank for “serious shortcomings in the prevention of money laundering.”