Trustly, ClearOn Receive Fines from the Swedish Financial Authority

The Financial Supervisory Authority in Sweden announced that it imposed fines against Trustly over anti-money laundering breaches. Upon investigating, the Authority found that ClearOn had deficiencies related to money laundering and imposed an administrative fine.

Trustly Receives a Fine and a Warning in Sweden

Finansinspektionen, the Financial Supervisory Authority in Sweden announced on Tuesday that it imposed an administrative fine against Trustly, the leader in digital account-to-account payments. After conducting an investigation, the Authority found that the company did not comply with key parts of the anti-money laundering rules. It said that Trustly had deficiencies regarding risk assessment, risk assessment of customers, as well as procedures and guidelines related to customer due diligence. Moreover, Finansinspektionen said that the company had deficiencies related to the monitoring of its customers.

“The deficiencies, which are severe, were found in Trustly’s largest business area, the gambling industry, which is associated with a high risk of money laundering and terrorist financing. Trustly is therefore receiving a warning and must pay an administrative fine of SEK 130 million.”

Finansinspektionen

The financial regulator outlined that Trustly did not “correctly identify who is a customer of the company as required under the Anti-Money Laundering Act.” The Authority explained that the company excluded a large number of its clients from its efforts against terrorist financing and money laundering. Acknowledging that the breaches are severe, the Authority warned Trustly and issued an administrative SEK 130 million ($14 million) penalty. Additionally, Finansinspektionen said that the gambling industry as a business area is “associated with a high risk of money laundering and terrorist financing.”

The Financial Regulator Fines ClearOn

Besides Trustly, the Authority said that the payment service company ClearOn also breached rules relating to anti-money laundering. Similar to Trustly, ClearOn had deficiencies related to risk assessment of its customers, risk assessment, guidelines and procedures related to customer due diligence.

“It is very serious that ClearOn, which handles considerable amounts of cash, has not taken powerful measures to prevent the company from being used for money laundering.”

Erik Thedéen, director general at Finansinspektionen

The regulator also said that ClearOn “has not taken sufficient measures to be able to manage the risk of money laundering that these business relationships imposed on the company.” As a result of the breaches, ClearOn received a warning and an administrative SEK 14 million ($1.5 million) fine from the Authority.

Erik Thedéen, the Authority’s director general, outlined that Trustly has chosen to operate within the gambling industry and it needs to have strict rules in place to prevent money laundering. On the other hand, he acknowledged that lawbreakers use cash which makes their transactions difficult to trace. Thedéen explained that considering the amounts of cash handled by ClearOn, the company needs to take stricter measures to prevent money laundering.