MT Global Limited, a U.K.-based money transfer company, was hit with a record £23.8 million (U.S. $32.4 million) fine by the U.K.’s tax authority in 2020 for violations of anti-money laundering regulations.

Her Majesty’s Revenue and Customs (HMRC) on Thursday revealed the record fine in its latest list of companies that received a penalty notice between Feb. 1 and Sept. 30, 2020. The fine against MT Global is more than double the value of all penalties issued by HMRC.

HMRC said the fine against MT Global Limited concerned “significant breaches” of money-laundering regulations between July 2017 and December 2019 “relating to risk assessments and associated record-keeping; policies, controls, and procedures; and fundamental customer due diligence measures.”

“Businesses who fail to comply with the money laundering regulations leave themselves, and the U.K. economy, open to attacks by criminals,” said Nick Sharp, deputy director of economic crime, Fraud Investigation Service at the HMRC.

 

Jaclyn Jaeger is a freelance contributor to Compliance Week after working for the company for 15 years. She writes on a wide variety of topics, including ethics and compliance, risk management, legal, enforcement, technology, and more.

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