Four AML reviews and a police inquiry may have saved NatWest a UK£265m fine… but didn’t!

Denis O’Connor, a Fellow of both the Institute of Chartered Accountants in England & Wales and the Chartered Institute of Securities and Investment, was a member of the British Bankers’ Association Money Laundering Committee from 2003-10 and a member of the Joint Money Laundering Steering Group’s Board and Editorial Panel between 2010 and 2016. He has been a frequent speaker at industry conferences on financial crime issues, both in the UK and abroad.

National Westminster Bank knew at least from 2011 that AML controls in its Corporate Banking Division were defective yet repeated warnings went unheeded until it finally paid with a criminal conviction and financial penalty. Denis O’Connor works through the missed opportunities and finds both bank and regulator wanting.