The NBB’s Sanctions Committee may impose an administrative fine on financial institutions where it identifies:

1° a breach of:

• the provisions of the Anti-Money Laundering Law (e.g. provisions of Book II of the Law which impose obligations in relation to governance, risk assessment, due diligence, reporting to CTIF-CFI and document retention, or provisions aimed at protecting the members of staff and the representatives of a financial institution who have reporteda breach of the Law to the NBBthrough external whistleblowing from any adverse or discriminatory treatment or breach of contract as a result of this reporting) or of its implementing decrees or regulations, in particular the Anti-Money Laundering Regulation of the NBB;
• the implementing measures of Directive 2015/849 (in particular the Regulatory Technical Standards and Delegated Regulations of the European Commission);
• the provisions of the European Regulation on transfers of funds; or
• the due diligence obligations laid down in the mandatory provisions on financial embargoes;

2° non-compliance with a requirement imposed by the NBB pursuant to the provisions referred to in point 1° (e.g. where the NBB, pursuant to the provisions of the Anti-Money Laundering Law from which it derives its supervisory powers - see the page “Supervisory powers, measures and policy of the NBB” - requires a financial institution to communicate specific information to it on a monthly basis and the institution fails to do so);

3° non-compliance with a requirement set by the NBB as a condition to a decision taken pursuant to the provisions referred to in point 1° (e.g. where the NBB makes the granting of an authorisation subject to a condition and this condition is not complied with).

Such a fine may be imposed not only on the financial institution itself but also, since the entry into force of the Anti-Money Laundering Law, on natural persons who are members of the statutory governing body or the management committee of a financial institution, as well as on natural persons who, in the absence of a management committee, are involved in the senior management of an institution and are responsible for the breach identified (Article 132, § 1, of the Anti-Money Laundering Law).

As financial institutions are perceived by the legislator as playing a key role in the fight against ML/FT, the amount of the administrative fine imposed by the Sanctions Committee may, for the same deed or deeds, amount to:

• a maximum of EUR 5 000 000 or, if this amount is higher, ten percent of the annual net turnover of the previous financial year, in case of a legal person (the concept of “turnover” being defined in the Anti-Money Laundering Law and specified in the preparatory works of the Law);
• a maximum of EUR 5 000 000, in case of a natural person.

The Anti-Money Laundering Law provides that, where the offence has resulted in a profit for the financial institution concerned or enabled it to avoid a loss, the maximum amount of the fine may be increased to twice the amount of this profit or loss. This possibility is without prejudice to the aforementioned maximum amounts; in other words, setting the maximum amount of the fine at twice the profit made or the loss avoided may not result in a maximum fine of less than the maximum of EUR 5 000 000 or 10 percent of the annual net turnover of the previous financial year (where the application of this percentage results, for legal persons, in an amount exceeding EUR 5 000 000). This also applies when the fine is imposed on a natural person.

Furthermore, the Law provides that the amount of the fine is determined taking into account a series of relevant circumstances listed in it, such as the seriousness and duration of the breaches, the degree of responsibility of the person involved, his financial strength (annual income in case of a natural person) or his level of cooperation with the supervisory authorities.

The Sanctions Committee’s decisions to impose an administrative sanction are published, in principle specifying the names of the persons involved, on the NBB’s website, for a period of at least five years. By way of exception, the Sanctions Committee may decide to publish its decision without specifying the names of the persons involved where specifying the names of the persons involved is liable (cf. Article 36/11, § 6, of the Law of 22 February 1998 establishing the Organic Statute of the NBB):

• to jeopardise the stability of the financial system;
• to jeopardize an ongoing criminal investigation or proceedings;
• to be disproportionately detrimental to the interests of the persons concerned or to the institutions to which they belong.

Any administrative sanction imposed by the Sanctions Committee (as well as any possible appeal against it and the outcome of such an appeal) will moreover be communicated by the NBB to CTIF-CFI on the one hand and the ESAs on the other. The same applies to the settlements that the NBB is authorised to conclude on the basis of the aforementioned Law of 22 February 1998.