By MARAIA VULA
The ANZ Banking Group has closed the accounts that money transfer companies and foreign exchange dealers have held with it.
Reserve Bank of Fiji deputy governor, Inia Naiyaga said: “This was a business decision arising from this particular bank’s ongoing assessment of anti-money laundering risks.
“The situation is however mitigated currently in Fiji, since we have four other banks that are more than willing to service these accounts if they meet the requirements,” he said.
An ANZ spokesperson said as part of their global compliance program, ANZ had undertaken an extensive review of all money service bureau accounts in the Pacific. Now they have taken proactive steps to exit relationships with those that do not have the robust controls required by ANZ.
“This is because payments made through money service bureaux are often processed in “bulk”, which makes it impossible to identify the individual sender and receiver,” the spokesperson said.
“Exiting relationships of this type is a preventative measure and forms part of our robust global anti-money laundering procedures.”
Change in accounts
Reserve Bank has had extensive discussions with ANZ and has been closely monitoring the situation.
Mr Naiyaga said: “However we expect all its supervised entities including banks to continuously assess and manage emerging risks to their operations. Also we expect banks to ensure that its customers are well informed of the reasons for their accounts closure.”
Money transfer companies in Fiji such as Western Union Money Transfer, Loftus Foreign Exchange Limited have now moved their accounts to other banks.
“In Fiji money transfer companies can shift their accounts to other banks at this time,” Mr Naiyaga said.
FEXCO Pacific general manager Steven Narayan said: “We had written to reserve bank on this issue which they said nothing couldn’t be done.
“We have moved our accounts to the Bank of the South Pacific. This after we were given a notice of 30 days to clear our account which was unfair but an extension 50 days was given.”
Loftus Foreign Exchange Limited Ajay Kumar said even though they had two bank accounts they were affected by the action taken by ANZ.
“We have moved our account to the other bank after been given a notice a month ago by ANZ however they did not disclose the main reason behind the closure,” he said.
Justification
All banks operating in Fiji, including branches of Australian banks are required to consult the Reserve Bank before taking such a decision.
BSP country manager Kevin McCarthy said: “We fully comply with Fiji’s and the BSP group’s policies on anti money laundering which includes assessments of the activities of our clients.”
Mr Naiyaga said: “This bank will have to justify the reasons for taking such a decision and this is to ensure the protection of depositors. As well as the licensed institutions, with no significant downside effect to the financial system.
“Again, noting that only one bank in Fiji has taken this decision there is no significant impact on the economy at this time.”
Inward personal remittances were recorded at $270.6 million cumulative to October 2013.
ANZ Banking Group closes all money transfer facility accounts throughout the Pacific.