FinCEN files flag 44 Indian banks for suspicious transactions worth more than $1 billion

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Close to 44 Indian banks have been flagged in a series of Suspicious Activity Reports (SARs) filed by the US banks to the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN) for carrying out suspicious transactions worth more than $1 billion, reported the Indian Publication The Indian Express. The publication said one set of records that has addresses linked to India show that Indian banks made over 2,000 transactions that were more than $1billion between 2011 and 2017.

The banks flagged by the US watchdog include state-owned Punjab National Bank (290 transactions); State Bank of India (102); Bank of Baroda (93); Union Bank of India (99) and Canara Bank (190), among others. The private Indian banks that were flagged are HDFC Bank (253 transactions); ICICI Bank (57); Kotak Mahindra Bank (268); Axis Bank (41) and IndusInd Bank (117) among others.

The publication said that the reports mentioning the Indian banks were filed by foreign banks including Deutsche Bank Trust Company Americas (DBTCA), BNY Mellon, Citibank, Standard Chartered and JP Morgan Chase. The report added that Indian banks were highlighted as they are “correspondent banks to the banks not present in India. The publication said that records also highlighted suspicious transactions that have been used by the Indian banks through the international payment gateway of foreign banks.

The Indian Express said that the foreign banks have flagged the transactions as they are “high-risk jurisdiction for money laundering or other financial crimes adverse media/public information on the client unidentified parties, and the fact that “source of funds and purpose of transaction could not be ascertained.