Standard Bank, one of the largest banks in Africa, has been penalised in Mozambique for certain malpractices.
Bank of Mozambique, the central bank of the country, fined the lender MZN290m ($4.6m) for ‘serious breaches of prudential and foreign exchange nature’.
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The central bank has also fined two of Standard Bank’s employees for similar wrongdoings.
According to a statement, the offences include fraudulent manipulation of the exchange rate and establishing an illegal payment network based outside the country.
The central bank also found Standard Bank and the two employees guilty of carrying out irregular financial derivatives transactions and not delivering records to the Bank of Mozambique within set time limits.
It also banned Standard Bank from conducting some exchange-related activities for up to one year.
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By GlobalDataBank of Mozambique initiated the action following an on-site inspection of Standard Bank Mozambique.
In a statement, Bank of Mozambique said: “To protect the interests of clients and other stakeholders and ensure the stability of the financial system, the shareholders of Standard Bank Mozambique, S. A. are working with Bank of Mozambique to remedy the aforementioned irregularities.
“In this regard, continuous monitoring measures have been developed, which may allow for lifting the suspension to Standard Bank, S. A before the set term, upon positive assessment of results.”
