KUALA LUMPUR: Bank Negara Malaysia (BNM) has taken enforcement actions, with penalties and compounds imposed, on two financial institutions and two firms for their failures to comply with anti-money laundering and countering financing of terrorism (AML/CFT) requirements.
In statements yesterday, BNM said the institutions involved were MBSB Bank Bhd, Small Medium Enterprise Development Bank Malaysia Bhd (SME Bank), Boardroom Corporate Services Sdn Bhd and Ilham Secretarial Services.
The central bank said it had imposed an administrative monetary penalty (AMP) totalling RM560,000 on MBSB Bank for failing to submit a suspicious transaction report (STR) despite the transactions meeting its internal criteria (red flags).
“As a reporting institution (RI), MBSB Bank is required to submit an STR to Bank Negara Malaysia when a customer’s transaction or attempted transaction fits its established ‘red flags’ to detect suspicious transactions.
“This mitigates the risk of RIs from being used as channels for money laundering and terrorism financing (ML/TF), and other serious crime activities,” it said.
MBSB Bank paid RM560,000 for the AMP imposed by the central bank on Dec 3, 2025.
Separately, BNM said it imposed an AMP of RM460,000 on SME Bank for failing to submit an STR promptly.
SME Bank also paid the RM460,000 penalty on Dec 3, 2025.
In addition, BNM had imposed a compound of RM46,000 on Boardroom Corporate Services Sdn Bhd for failing to promptly submit the STR and for failing to conduct enhanced customer due diligence (EDD).
“RIs are also required to conduct EDD on their customers when ML/TF risks are assessed to be higher or when nominee services are provided,” the central bank said, adding that the boardroom paid the compound on Dec 16, 2025.
BNM had also imposed a compound of RM8,625 on Ilham Secretarial Services for failure to promptly submit an STR, and the company paid the compound on Dec 15, 2025. — Bernama
