The Central Bank of Cyprus took management control of these FBME branches on July 21, with the intention of finding a buyer.
In a statement on its website, it said the planned sale was not based on the announcement by the US Treasury Department’s Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN) naming FBME Bank “as a financial institution of primary money laundering concern, but based on the direct and drastic consequences of the said announcement on the capacity of the Branch to execute customer transactions”.
FBME, meanwhile, continues to deny the allegations and has said the central bank is engaged in a “hostile takeover of the bank” and that “it will explore other avenues to challenge this sale”, according to a number of media reports.
It also stated that a team of forensic accountants, named in a report by the Cyprus Mail as being from the US accountancy offices of EY, and appointed by FBME, had arrived in Cyprus on July 30 to carry out compliance checks with anti-money laundering rules.
The Management of Tanzania-headquartered FBME was taken over by Tanzania’s central bank last month after the Central Bank of Cyprus placed two branches under its supervision. To read more, click here.
