Mega International to Pay Anti-Laundering Penalty

The New York State Department of Financial Services has fined Mega International Commercial Bank in Taiwan $180 million in connection with allegations that it violated New York's anti-money-laundering laws.

The department said that it will also install an independent monitor to ensure problems found in a recent exam are fixed.

The bank's top management was "indifferent" to risks associated with transactions involving Panama, recognized as a high-risk jurisdiction for money laundering, the department said in a news release late last week.

Mega International, which has a branch in Panama City and another in Panama's Colon Free Trade Zone, failed to identify a number of suspicious transactions running between its New York and Panama branches, the department said.

Mega International has approximately $103 billion in assets, including $9 billion at its New York branch.

The exam also found that "a substantial number of customer entities, which have or had accounts at several other Mega Bank branches," were apparently formed with the assistance of the Mossack Fonseca law firm in Panama, the department said. Mossack Fonseca has been at the center of controversy since the publication of the so-called Panama Papers earlier this year, which alleged the firm helped its clients hide money in various tax havens.

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