By By The People News
Monrovia, Liberia – The Financial Intelligence Agency of Liberia (FIA) has imposed a fine of L$18,500,000 on the Liberian Bank for Development and Investment (LBDI) for what it described as serious lapses in meeting critical Anti-Money Laundering and Countering the Financing of Terrorism (AML/CFT) obligations.
The penalty, announced this week, follows a risk-based compliance inspection carried out at LBDI from December 2–13, 2024, which uncovered significant weaknesses and repeated failures in the bank’s AML/CFT framework.
According to the FIA’s inspection report, LBDI was in violation of several provisions of the AML/CFT Act of 2021 and related regulations. Among the key breaches cited were inadequate board oversight of AML/CFT risk management, failure to properly assess and monitor money laundering risks associated with existing customers, products, and delivery channels, and lack of internal mechanisms to effectively manage these risks.
The Agency noted that such failures contravene Section 12.0 of the Amended Corporate Governance Regulations for Financial Institutions, as well as Sections 15.3.1 and 15.3.10 of the AML/CFT Act of 2021.
Additionally, the FIA disclosed that LBDI’s senior management had not approved its AML/CFT policies as mandated by law, and that the bank lacked effective systems to verify customer and beneficial ownership information, particularly for high-risk accounts.
Another major concern, the Agency said, was the bank’s failure to file suspicious transaction reports despite having software designed for that purpose. FIA also flagged inadequate staff training among employees responsible for detecting and tracking questionable transactions.
“These shortcomings represent egregious non-compliance and expose the financial sector to heightened risks of money laundering and terrorism financing,” the FIA stressed in its release.
As part of corrective measures, LBDI has been ordered to pay the fine into the Government of Liberia’s account at the Central Bank of Liberia within ten working days, beginning September 29 and ending October 10, 2025. A copy of the payment receipt must also be submitted to the Agency.
Beyond the fine, LBDI is required to submit a comprehensive remediation plan to the FIA by October 20, 2025. The plan must outline corrective actions with specific timelines aimed at addressing the deficiencies identified in the inspection.
The bank has further been directed to implement all required measures to strengthen its compliance systems and prevent future breaches. These measures must be in place no later than December 1, 2025.
The FIA warned that it will closely monitor the bank’s compliance efforts and will take “appropriate supervisory actions” if necessary to enforce full adherence to AML/CFT obligations.
For now, LBDI has not issued any public statement in response to the sanctions.
