Finma: 1MDB money ended in Coutts & Co account

Coutts & Co has today been ordered to pay CHF 6.5m (£5.2m) by Swiss watchdog Financial Market Supervisory Authority (Finma).

The fine is about anti-money laundering failings in its dealings with scandal-hit Malaysian 1MDB.

The Swiss financial regulator said a young Malaysian businessman opened an account in the summer of 2009.

The expectations were that $10 million would be transferred to it from the holder’s family assets.

Finma said instead, about $700 million was moved to the account late that year from 1MDB.

A Finma spokesman declined to name the businessman, said Bloomberg, in a report today.

Amid claims that 1MDB is not aware of the money trail, Finma said it was considering enforcement proceedings against employees of a Swiss bank, Coutts.

Finma said the employees are responsible for the bank’s actions.

In particular, Coutts & Co, a Swiss incorporated firm sold by RBS early last year, is said to have engaged in several high-risk transactions linked to 1MDB between late 2009 and early 2013.

SOURCE: Bloomberg – FINMA – http://www.cityam.com