KUALA LUMPUR, Aug 26 — Bank Negara Malaysia (BNM) has imposed administrative monetary penalties on Setel Ventures Sdn Bhd, Standard Chartered Bank Malaysia Bhd, and Standard Chartered Saadiq Bhd for failure to comply with targeted financial sanctions (TFS) requirements.
It imposed a RM637,000 administrative monetary penalty (AMP) on Setel on April 15 for failing to update its sanctions database immediately after the publication of the Domestic List.
“Setel also failed to conduct sanctions screening of customers in its database and subsequently failed to ascertain whether potential matches were true matches,” BNM said in a statement today.
The breaches stemmed from gaps in Setel’s standard operating procedure (SOP) and sanctions screening system.
“However, Setel has since taken remedial measures by updating and rectifying gaps in its SOP and enhancing internal systems to ensure compliance with TFS requirements,” it said, adding that Setel paid RM637,500 for the AMP imposed on May 6.
In a separate statement, BNM said it also imposed a RM132,000 AMP on Standard Chartered Bank Malaysia and Standard Chartered Saadiq after they failed to update their sanctions database without delay upon the publication of the Domestic List.
“This resulted in sanctions screening being conducted against an outdated database. Nonetheless, there were no specified entities onboarded, and no transactions involving such entities were facilitated by (both banks).
“These breaches were attributed to gaps in the banks’ sanctions screening controls, as well as deficiencies in ensuring that the screening process aligns with regulatory requirements,” it said.
BNM noted that both parties had since taken remedial measures to strengthen their controls and improve the effectiveness of their sanctions screening management, including strengthening oversight and enhancing the timeliness of their sanctions screening controls to ensure compliance with TFS requirements.
“Therefore, on June 15, 2026, Standard Chartered Bank and Standard Chartered Saadiq each paid RM132,000 for the AMP imposed by BNM,” it said.
BNM added that these enforcement actions aligned with the approach and processes outlined in its published Enforcement Approach.
