Skilled Person Report relating to the financial crime systems and controls of the UK branch of an EEA private bank

Through conducting a site visit and review, the UK regulator had identified a series of weaknesses in the bank’s Financial Crime Framework. Some of these were considered persistent as they had arisen in prior regulator reviews. The firm committed to remediate these areas and as an interim measure the regulator put in place a series of restrictions. The regulator required a Skilled Person to report on the firm’s programme of remediation once completed.

Through conducting a site visit and review, the UK regulator had identified a series of weaknesses in the bank’s Financial Crime Framework. Some of these were considered persistent as they had arisen in prior regulator reviews. The firm committed to remediate these areas and as an interim measure the regulator put in place a series of restrictions. The regulator required a Skilled Person to report on the firm’s programme of remediation once completed.

Our review identified that the bank had made significant progress in their remediation activities allowing them to be satisfied that the areas of concern identified by the regulator had been resolved. We included good practice observations to allow the bank to further enhance their programme and demonstrate its sustainability. The bank has successfully completed their remediation, exited the Skilled Person process and regulatory restrictions have been lifted.