The highest fine in banking history! Taichung Bank executives colluded with a fraud group to launder money, and the Financial Supervisory Commission imposed a heavy penalty of 32 million.

Taichung Bank executives colluded with fraud groups to launder money, involving a total cash flow of 3.64 billion yuan. Due to internal control failures and failure to implement anti-money laundering measures, the bank was fined 32 million yuan by the Financial Supervisory Commission, setting the highest penalty record in Taiwan’s banking industry, and was required to comprehensively improve its internal control and anti-money laundering mechanisms.

Taichung Bank executives colluded to launder money, fined 32 million by the FSC

According to reports from Central News Agency and Economic Daily News, the FSC announced yesterday (5/12) that due to deficiencies in the bank’s deposit account opening, ongoing customer identity verification, and account monitoring mechanisms, a fine of NT$32 million was imposed in accordance with the law, setting the highest penalty record in Taiwan’s banking history.

FSC Banking Bureau Director Tong Zhengzhang pointed out that investigations found that 10 branches of Taichung Bank, starting from April 2024, opened accounts for 21 corporate clients without proper review mechanisms for customer identification procedures and online banking limits.

Subsequent steps involving due diligence on customer identities, monitoring of suspicious transactions, and reporting suspected money laundering also had multiple serious deficiencies, indicating that the bank failed to properly execute internal control systems. Because of multiple violations of administrative legal obligations, a maximum fine of NT$32 million was imposed.

Taichung Bank Money Laundering Case: Executives Abuse Power to Protect Fraud Groups

Reviewing the entire money laundering case, the Taichung District Prosecutors Office found that Hong Yuepeng, the person responsible for Wanli Development Company, colluded with four managers and assistant managers from four branches of Taichung Commercial Bank from September 2024 to April 2025 to facilitate money laundering.

These managers assisted criminal groups in opening financial accounts under the names of 12 fictitious companies, not only failing to retain images during account opening but also deliberately increasing the account’s large transfer limits.

When accounts triggered suspicious activity alerts indicating possible money laundering, the involved bank managers deliberately shielded and delayed reporting. Even after reporting abnormal transactions, they neglected to implement measures such as account suspension or transfer restrictions, allowing illegal proceeds from scams and online gambling to be rapidly and densely transferred out, using layered transfers to conceal the destination of large criminal proceeds, with illegal funds involved reaching 3.64 billion yuan.

Deputy Director of the FSC Banking Bureau, Zhang Jiaqui, stated that this case was discovered during the 2025 financial inspection when the Inspection Bureau identified abnormal cash flows and proactively transferred the case to prosecutors. After conducting searches, nearly NT$8B in assets were seized, and seven individuals involved were formally prosecuted for violations of the Banking Act’s breach of trust and anti-money laundering laws.

• **Related report: Shocking Taiwan’s Financial Sector! Six Taichung Bank executives colluded with fraud groups, involved in laundering NT$3.6 billion

FSC Implements Six Supervisory Measures, Taichung Bank Emphasizes Normal Operations

In response to the severe internal control failures at Taichung Bank, the FSC not only imposed heavy penalties but also proposed six supervisory requirements. These include a comprehensive review of deficiencies and consideration of strengthening improvement measures, enhancing internal controls and audit mechanisms to be reported to the board of directors; as well as a thorough investigation into the appropriateness of account opening reviews initiated by bank staff, and requiring external professional agencies to recalibrate and improve anti-money laundering mechanisms within one month, among others.

Regarding the FSC’s heavy penalties and supervisory requirements, Taichung Bank subsequently issued a major announcement in response, stating that it will follow the instructions of the competent authority to carry out relevant improvements, and emphasizing that the company’s current operations are normal, capital adequacy is sufficient, and overall financial and business conditions are unaffected.

This content is summarized by Crypto Agent from various sources, reviewed and edited by Crypto City. It is currently in training phase and may contain logical biases or informational errors. The content is for reference only and should not be considered investment advice.