FCA Opts for Public Censure of Sonali Bank UK Ex-CEO for AML Failure

The United Kingdom Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) has publicly censured Mohammad Prodhan, the former Chief Executive Officer of Sonali Bank UK (SBUK), for failing to establish and maintain effective anti-money laundering (AML) systems and controls at the bank.

The financial markets regulator, which fined Prodhan £76,400 in 2018, is now opting to publicly reprimand the ex-CEO as a result of “exceptional circumstances in this case.”

These situations include "Mr Prodhan returning to Bangladesh and no longer having income or assets in the UK; the fact he is no longer in employment in Bangladesh; ongoing personal conditions which limit his ability to travel to the UK for the Upper Tribunal; and the length of time since his misconduct which has been impacted by Covid-delays to the litigation,” FCA explained in a statement released on Friday.

Furthermore, the financial watchdog noted the Bank of England’s Prudential Regulation Authority has cancelled the bank’s authorization. The institution has also been renamed Sonali Bangladesh (UK) Limited, it said.

SBUK was founded in 2001 to serve the Bangladeshi community in the United Kingdom. The bank is the product of a partnership between the Bangladesh government and Sonali Bank, a state-owned commercial bank in Bangladesh.

Prodhan's Offence

In 2018, the FCA penalized Prodhan for failing to take charge of his AML duties at the SBUK, leading to “systemic failures in SBUK’s AML systems and controls throughout the business.” However, the CEO referred the case to the Upper Tribunal, a UK superior appellate court, where the case was delayed.

“While a financial penalty was appropriate in this case, prolonged litigation to enforce a penalty that is unlikely to be paid against a person who may not be able to travel to the UK to explain himself in person to the Upper Tribunal is neither practical nor fair," noted Mark Steward, the Executive Director of Enforcement and Market Oversight at the FCA. "In these exceptional circumstances, a public censure is an appropriate resolution of the case,” Steward added.

Meanwhile, in 2016, Bangladesh appointed Pradhan as the Managing Director of Rupali Bank, a state-owned commercial bank. In 2019, the executive was selected as the MD of Sonali Bank in Bangladesh. However, the FCA in the latest statement said Prodhan is no longer in employment in Bangladesh.