FIU imposes penalties on three finance companies: CB

• Richard Pieris Finance, Softlogic Finance and Siyapatha Finance fined Rs. 2.3 m
• FIU finds institutions in non-compliance of regulations under Financial Transactions Reporting Act  

The Financial Intelligence Unit (FIU) has imposed penalties of Rs. 2.3 million on three financial institutions for failing to meet regulations in 2020, the Central Bank said in a statement yesterday. 

The three companies are Richard Pieris Finance Ltd. who were fined Rs. 300,000 while Softlogic Finance PLC and Siyapatha Finance PLC who were fined Rs. 1 million each.   

By virtue of the powers vested under Section 19 (1) read together with section 19 (2) of the Financial Transactions Reporting Act, No. 06 of 2006 (FTRA), financial penalties are imposed on institutions that fail to comply with the provisions of the FTRA.  The penalty may be prescribed taking into consideration the nature and gravity of the relevant non-compliance of the Financial Institution or the Designated Non-Finance Business.

Accordingly, as the regulator for Anti-Money Laundering and Countering the Financing of Terrorism (AML/CFT) in the country, the FIU imposed penalties amounting to Rs. 2.3 million in total for the period from 01.06.2020 to 31.12.2020 to enforce compliance on Financial Institutions. 

The Monetary Board of the Central Bank of Sri Lanka decided to publish the penalties imposed on the Financial Institutions by the FIU in order to improve the AML/CFT compliance level in the country.

Penalties were imposed mainly on the violations of Financial Institutions (Customer Due Diligence) Rules, No. 1 of 2016 in relation to sanctions screening.