Lenders slapped with fines
More than 10 Greek banks, including several of the country’s largest lenders, were slapped with 1.5 million euros in fines by the Bank of Greece yesterday. The fines were imposed on lenders for having failed to properly inform customers about their transactions with the banks and for not adopting the proper procedures to help prevent money laundering. The penalties were imposed for violations detected in the period from 2006 to 2008. Eurobank was hit with the largest single penalty, 250,000 euros, for keeping its customers in the dark about certain transactions. «The size of the penalty… depends on the extent of the offense, its impact on the proper operation of the financial institution and the need to prevent similiar violations,» the Bank of Greece said in a statement. Alpha and Piraeus banks were instructed to pay 140,000 euros and 170,000 euros respectively, for not adopting procedures to fight money laundering.
