De Nederlandsche Bank (DNB) has imposed a fine of €8.5 million (USD$9.7 million) on ABN Amro after finding structural weaknesses in the way the bank monitored some of its higher-risk customers.
The penalty was issued under the Netherlands' Anti-Money Laundering and Anti-Terrorist Financing Act (Wwft) and concerns ongoing-monitoring failings between September 2023 and September 2024. DNB said ABN Amro had not adequately investigated or acted on clear risk signals across part of its higher-risk client base. The regulator pointed to five customer files to illustrate the failings, citing missed indicators that included large cash withdrawals, transactions linked to high-risk countries, sizeable and frequent commission payments, and signs that could point to circumvention of the sanctions imposed on Russia.
The action relates to the effectiveness of the bank's transaction-monitoring controls rather than to any single proven case of money laundering. DNB set the fine at €8.5 million, down from a starting figure of €10 million, after the bank began taking steps to correct the problems. ABN Amro has accepted the penalty and says it has since strengthened its anti-money laundering processes.
