State Bank imposes Rs224 million in fines on 5 commercial banks over regulatory violations          

KARACHI – The State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) has slapped huge penalties on five commercial banks during the first quarter of 2023.

The central bank has imposed fines on these banks for violating several regulatory instructions. The commercial banks are Askari Bank Limited, Zarai Taraqiati Bank, Soneri Bank Limited, Sindh Bank Limited, and Mobilink Microfinance Bank

The highest penalty of Rs85.14 million was imposed on Askari Bank Ltd over violation of regulatory instructions regarding CDD/ KYC (Customer Due Diligence/ Know Your Customer), asset quality, FX (Foreign Exchange), and other general banking operations.

State-owned Sindh Bank gets a penalty of Rs55.393 million by the SBP for violation of general banking operations and infringement of key instructions related to CDD/KYC. The bank owned by the Sindh government has also been advised to increase the oversight of BOD and senior management in matters pertaining to AML/CFT risk and strengthen the control functions.

The third on the grim list was Zarai Taraqiati Bank which gets a penalty of Rs37.263 million over violations related to General Banking Operations, CDD/KYC, and Asset Quality.

The central bank fined Rs27.449 million to Soneri Bank for violation of regulatory instructions to CDD/KYC and Asset Quality.

Mobilink Microfinance Bank was fined Rs20.467 million for non-compliance with General Banking Operations regulations and other mistakes. The bank also gets directions to conduct an internal inquiry on breaches of regulatory instructions.