Bank of Lithuania Slaps €840,000 Fine on Contis for Anti-Money Laundering Failings

The Bank of Lithuania has imposed a substantial fine of €840,000 on UK financial services company Contis for serious Anti-Money Laundering (AML) deficiencies.

The regulator's investigation revealed a series of infringements, indicating that Contis overlooked critical aspects of information security and business continuity risk management. This raised concerns about the company's commitment to maintaining a robust risk management framework. Contis has been directed to address these violations by April of the upcoming year. Additionally, the Bank of Lithuania, in its decision dated November 21, has imposed restrictions on Contis, prohibiting the company from expanding its operations until a separate decision is made. The company is also barred from establishing new business relationships with distributors and intermediaries.

This penalty comes in the wake of a previous fine of €180,000 levied on Contis in April for its failure to appropriately safeguard client funds and breach of capital requirements. The Bank of Lithuania emphasized that Contis had delegated responsibilities related to the implementation of AML/CFT (Combating the Financing of Terrorism) to electronic money distributors but failed to ensure proper execution of these duties. This failure suggests a potential systemic shortfall in Contis' AML/CFT framework, prompting regulatory action to address and rectify these deficiencies.

By fLEXI tEAM