SHANGHAI – China’s central bank has imposed a 22.37 million yuan ($3.52 million) fine on MYBank, the online bank backed by China’s Ant Group, for violations including breaching rules on credit scoring management and transacting with unidentified clients.
MYBank was also warned and fined for failing to follow the central bank’s know your customer (KYC) requirements and instructions to report suspicious transactions, the Hangzhou branch of the People’s Bank of China (PBOC) said in a penalty decision dated Jan. 29.
A spokesperson at MYBank told Reuters on Monday the relevant problems had been rectified by 2020.
China’s financial regulators have been ramping up anti-money laundering efforts for online financial institutions, as part of Beijing’s efforts to rein in financial risks.
The PBOC and China’s Ministry of Public Security are leading a three-year campaign to fight money laundering in a bid to safeguard national security and social stability.
China also ordered Ant to become a more strictly regulated financial holding firm and strictly comply with the requirements of credit information business regulation after its record $37 billion IPO was derailed by regulators in 2020.
Nine executives and managers at MYBank including then-deputy chief executive Feng Liang were also fined for such violations, according to the penalty decision.
($1 = 6.3573 Chinese yuan renminbi)
(Reporting by Zhang Yan, and Brenda Goh; Editing by Kirsten Donovan)
