Central Bank fines reach AKz 215.6 million

 Luanda - The National Bank of Angola (BNA) applied 35 sanction processes to banking and non-banking financial institutions (IFB's/IFNB's), in the first quarter, which resulted in fines totalling 215, 9 million kwanzas.

According to a statement issued by the BNA's Department for Regulation and Organisation of the Financial System, the infractions were detected in the period between January 1 and March 31 2023, ANGOP has learnt.

 Of the total of the sanctioning processes, 22 were applied to banking financial institutions and 13 in non-banking financial institutions.

Of the 13 cases applied to non financial institutions, two culminated in the revocation of licenses to carry out financial activity and another focused on a manager with relevant functions. 

The infractions detected in banking financial institutions include breaches of the norms and procedures for carrying out foreign exchange operations, failure in complying with norms for preventing and combating money laundering and financing terrorism. 

Commercial banks were also found guilty of violations such as non-compliance with the rules on consumer protection for financial products and services, the granting of credit to the real sector of the economy, the rules on special registration with the supervisory body, as well as the duty to report accounting and financial information. 

In the case of non-banking financial institutions, the Central Bank detected breaches such as non-compliance with the duty to report quarterly balance sheets, the regulatory deadline for reporting the report and accounts and lack of rules to prevent and combat money laundering and terrorism financing. 

April 13, the BNA made it public the opening of proceedings to punish some banking financial institutions namely Millennium Atlântico (BMA), Sol and Comércio e Indústria (BCI). 

The BNA said it found breaches of consumer protection standards for financial products and services, lack of internal control and to prevent and combat money laundering in these commercial banks.