The Federal Bank of the Middle East (FBME), currently under administration by the Central Bank of Cyprus, has expressed its readiness to comply with the laws against money laundering and called on the Central Bank (CBC) to abandon its decision on expropriation and the sale of the branch on the island.
In a public comment from FBME`s lawyers, Hogan Lovells, in relation to the start of the submission to the US Department of the Treasury’s FinCEN bureau in Washington, it is said that the the forensic accountants from Ernst and Young in their assessment of FBME’s compliance programme observed that the Bank’s procedures “incorporates the requirements” of the relevant laws.
“These laws are the EU’s Third Money Laundering Directive and the fourth issue of the Central Bank of Cyprus’ directive to credit institutions in accordance with Article 59(4) of the Prevention and Suppression of Money Laundering Activities of 2007 to 2013”, says the announcement.
The EU assessment further reported that the FBME has “protocols in place that allow the Bank to continuously keep the Program aligned with these legal requirements”.
As the public statement makes clear, the FBME has restated its commitment to continuing to cooperate with the governments of the US, Cyprus and Tanzania in the fight against money laundering and terrorist financing.
“Recommendations have been made in areas where its compliance programme can be improved, which the Bank has already committed to implementing”, says the statement.
The submission of the full forensics report is expected to take place over the next 60 days.
At the same time the FBME calls for a change of policy on the part of the Central Bank of Cyprus.
“The Central Bank needs to rescind the Resolution measures on the Cyprus branch, to allow depositors to have access to their funds on a proper basis, and to abandon ideas of an expropriation and sale of the Cyprus branch”, says the announcement.
On July 21 the Resolution Authority issued a Decree, which placed the branch of FBME Bank Ltd in Cyprus under resolution, with the purpose to sell the operations of the branch “with the aim of protecting FBME depositors”, after a US Treasury report implicated the Bank in money laundering.
