Why did agency slap Citibank Japan with a sales suspension?
Authorities ordered Citibank’s Japan unit to suspend all sales operations at its retail banking arm for one month after it failed to improve anti-money laundering measures that target crime syndicates and other shadowy groups. The order Friday is the second time in five years that the Financial Services Agency has reprimanded Citibank Japan Ltd. for insufficient monitoring and control of “suspicious transactions.” The suspension comes as the Japan lender’s parent company Citigroup — one of the banks hardest hit by the financial crisis — scales back its presence in the world’s second-biggest economy. Last month it agreed to sell its Japanese brokerage businesses to Sumitomo Mitsui Financial Group, Japan’s third-largest bank, for about 545 billion yen ($5.7 billion). Citibank, a relatively small player in Japan’s consumer banking market, will shut all sales operations at its Japanese retail division from July 15 to Aug. 14. The suspension covers advertising, sales campaigns and solicitat
