FWD Life Insurance Company (Bermuda) Limited has been ordered to pay a HK$19.5m penalty by Hong Kong's insurance regulator over shortcomings in the insurer's controls on third-party payments. The Insurance Authority (IA) imposed the penalty following an on-site inspection under the Anti-Money Laundering and Counter-Terrorist Financing Ordinance (Cap. 615).
The IA said the shortcomings included payor identification and the handling of potentially suspicious transactions, including cash payments. Further issues were found in the capture and screening of information relating to Politically Exposed Persons and the conduct of customer due diligence for particular transactions.
FWD Life has since implemented a series of measures to address the identified shortcomings and strengthen its governance, controls and oversight. The IA said it acknowledged the company’s early acceptance of its findings and its commitment to remediation and enhancing its governance and control framework.
The company also confirmed that enhanced reviews found no instances of non-eligible customers being onboarded as a result of delayed detection. The IA stressed that all authorised insurers carrying on long-term business must maintain effective anti-money laundering and counter-terrorist financing controls and procedures, which it said are vital to maintaining Hong Kong’s position as an international financial centre.