WASHINGTON, March 31 ― The US Federal Reserve Board and the Treasury announced fines yesterday for Wells Fargo bank totalling almost US$100 million (RM441 million) for enabling sanctions violations worth more than half a billion dollars over five years.

The Fed said in a statement that Wells Fargo's historically "inadequate” oversight of sanctions compliance risks at a subsidiary allowed a foreign bank to process around US$532 million in "prohibited transactions” between 2010 and 2015.

The Fed and Treasury fined the Californian lender a total of US$97.8 million, according to the statement, US$67.8 million of which was levied by the Fed.

The Fed said Wells Fargo's subsidiary had "provided a trade finance platform to a foreign bank,” which then used this platform to process prohibited transactions.

The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau recently fined Wells Fargo US$3.7 billion fine for its "illegal conduct” and "widespread mismanagement” of auto loans. ― AFP