Julius Baer Ordered to Pay $5M Over Compliance Failures
ZURICH (Reuters) -Swiss private bank Julius Baer has been ordered by the country's financial regulator to pay more than 4 million Swiss francs ($4.80 million) over alleged money laundering and compliance failures, according to a person familiar with the matter.
The enforcement decision, which was made late last year, relates to business between 2009 and 2019, the source said.
It is the latest setback to surface for Switzerland's second-largest listed lender, which put new management in place this year as it seeks to move on from major losses from the collapse of property group Signa.
The Financial Times reported on the order earlier on Wednesday. FINMA, Switzerland's financial regulator, declined to comment.
The regulator lacks the power to impose fines directly on financial institutions, but can order them to repay profits through confiscation orders.
Britain's financial watchdog in 2022 fined Julius Baer 18 million pounds ($24 million) for failing to conduct its business with integrity. The bank did not contest the fine at the time and paid the sum.
($1 = 0.8335 Swiss francs)
($1 = 0.7500 pounds)
(Reporting by Reuters News; Editing by Jan Harvey)
