Hong Kong Monetary Authority (HKMA) on Tuesday initiated disciplinary action and imposed a penalty of HK$8500,000 on the Hong Kong branch of Indian Overseas Bank for failing to comply with the country’s regulations around money laundering and counterterrorist financing.
The public sector lender said in an exchange filing that this action related to contravention of certain sections of HKMA’s Anti-Money Laundering and Counter-Terrorist Financing Ordinance (AMLO) between May 2021 to January 2024.
HKMA has ordered IOB to conduct a review on the transaction alerts generated by its transaction monitoring system and submit to the HKMA a remedial plan to address the contraventions, IOB said. The bank also needs to submit a report prepared by an independent external advisor to the HKMA assessing whether the remedial measures are effective, besides paying the penalty.
HKMA in a statement pegged the pecuniary penalty amount on IOB at HK$8500,000. IOB did not disclose the amount. “There were significant deficiencies in IOBHK’s transaction monitoring mechanism and management oversight of the bank’s anti-money laundering and counter-financing of terrorism (AML/CFT) controls,” HKMA said.
“The Bank and its branch operating at Hong Kong have taken necessary preventive actions to avoid such recurrence in future and further strengthen its internal processes in this regard. The impact of the said action on the Bank is not material,” IOB said.
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Published on July 23, 2025
