US Fed tells China Construction Bank to better guard against money laundering

The US Federal Reserve has instructed China Construction Bank (CCB) to submit compliance programs plans for anti-money laundering controls, customer diligence and methods for spotting suspicious transactions within 60 days, the first such enforcement action by the Fed against one of China’s four biggest state-owned banks, Reuters reported. Mildred Harper, chief compliance officer for CCB’s New York branch, confirmed the enforcement action. The Fed did not impose a fine or other sanctions on the bank, and did not identify what problems it was facing. China’s corruption watchdog said on Wednesday that inspection teams had recently started audits of four branches of CCB.