KUALA LUMPUR: AMMB Holdings Bhd (AmBank) says it is "strongly" committed to adherence to all banking rules and regulations to safeguard its customers and the banking system.
Ambank said this in response to recent reports that it was among numerous banks linked to transactions flagged by US-based banks as "suspicious" between 2010 and 2016.
The reports were based on a leaked document from the US Treasury Department's Financial Crimes Enforcement Network, or FinCEN.
AmBank noted that in the recent years, global practices for Anti-Money Laundering/Combating the Financing of Terrorism (AML/CFT) had improved and made more stringent.
"AmBank is compliant with the existing AML/ CFT framework in place. We have spent more than RM100 million in a span of four years commencing 2016, to improve the robustness of our processes as well as enhance our monitoring systems, infrastructure and training.
"We have hired industry talents to transform the Bank and ensure compliance to all rules and regulations," the bank added.
According to the news reports, Ambank was linked to two transactions involving US$2.9 million in total sent out to Malaysia.
Other Malaysian banks flagged as "potentially suspicious" were Public Bank (seven transactions involving US$13.37 million), Alliance Bank Malaysia Bhd (two transactions, received US$462,378), CIMB Bank Bhd (two transactions, received US$211,868), HSBC Bank Malaysia Bhd (two transactions, received US$871,637), OCBC Bank (two transactions, sent US$10,100, received US$30,253), Standard Chartered Bank Bhd (one transaction, received US$199,965), United Overseas Bank (three transactions, received US$84,234) and United Overseas Bank Malaysia Bhd (two transactions, received US$121.185).
A total of 23 transactions that flowed to or from banks in Malaysia between 2010 and 2016 had reportedly been flagged by US-based banks as suspicious.
Out of the 23 transactions, a total of US$4.88 million involved incoming funds and US$13.38 million involved outgoing funds, according to the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists' (ICIJ) website.
These transactions were processed via three US-based banks, which filed suspicious activity reports with FinCEN.
The three were The Bank of New York Mellon Corp (14 transactions, sent US$10,100, received US$4.76 million), Standard Chartered Plc (seven transactions, sent US$13.37 million), and JP Morgan Chase & Co (two transactions, received US$121,185).