Absa Bank, formerly Barclays Bank of Kenya has been suspended from the foreign exchange market for one week following its involvement in alleged fraudulent transactions last month, the Central Bank of Kenya has said.
The bank allegedly facilitated foreign exchange (forex) transactions that may have aided terrorism and money laundering, CBK said.
CBK said Absa failed to provide information about some specific foreign exchange trades that it conducted in March 2020.
“In investigating these and other earlier transactions, Absa Kenya did not …ensure the standard checks on anti-money laundering and combating the financing of terrorism and know-your-customer requirements were applied,” CBK said in a statement.
Consequently, the bank has been ordered to reverse all the transactions that were identified as fraudulent by the CBK by April 15, 2020. It has been banned from the forex market within this time.
While acknowledging that Absa Kenya took responsibility for the mistakes, CBK said the actions have been taken CBK in order to build sound, fair and transparent financial markets, anchored in the law and according to global best practices.