The Financial Supervisory Commission (FSC) on Thursday said that it issued NT$3.2 million (US$103,306) in fines against insurance companies in the first nine months of the year, the highest in three years.
The commission said it has boosted inspections of banks, securities brokerages and insurance firms in the past two years as Taiwan prepares for its third-round mutual evaluation by the Asia/Pacific Group on Money Laundering next month.
An amendment to the Money Laundering Control Act (洗錢防制法), which took effect in June last year, requires financial institutions to step up reviews of clients who hold political offices, as well as their relatives and close associates.
The commission said that it handed out a total of NT$2.4 million in fines against local insurers in 2016, but none last year.
However, the figure surged this year, including a NT$1.1 million fine on Yuanta Life Insurance Co (元大人壽) last month for contravening the Money Laundering Control Act and the Insurance Act (保險法).
The commission said it also issued 32 corrections and 23 improvement requirements to insurers this year, which were also the highest since 2016.
As for banks, total fines in the first nine months were NT$2.7 million, compared with NT$31.46 million last year, FSC data showed.
In 2016, the commission fined the banking sector a total of NT$48.8 million, including a NT$10 million fine on state-run Mega International Commercial Bank (兆豐銀行) after the New York State Department fined the bank’s New York City branch for compliance failures.
As for securities brokerages, the commission said it issued NT$600,000 in fines last year, but none in the first nine months of the year.
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