The Belgian branch of Dutch multinational bank ING was hit with a hefty fine of over €300,000 for failing to enforce anti-money laundering regulations for over a decade despite the "suspicious activity" of a Russian-owned account, according to weekend reports.
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, according to reports in Dutch news site De Telegraaf.
The central bank said ING Belgium failing to oversee and to follow-up on "suspicious activity" of an unnamed Russian customer who was carrying out transactions with "hundreds of thousands of dollars" from 2000 to 2013.
A spokesperson for ING said that bank staff had brought up the issue with national banking regulators six years ago, according to the outlet, and that the bank had put "structural improvements" in place since then.
A representative from the Belgian bank confirmed the fine to De Standaard at the weekend.
Saturday's 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."
Gabriela Galindo
The Brussels Times
