Woori Bank has been fined by financial authorities for opening accounts without verifying customer identification. Cases of omitting identity verification for agents handling account opening tasks were also detected. According to the Specific Financial Transactions Act, financial companies are required to fulfill their customer verification obligations to prevent money laundering.
According to the financial sector on the 24th, Woori Bank received a fine of 60.4 million won for violating the Specific Financial Transactions Act based on the results of the Financial Supervisory Service's inspection, which was reviewed by the Financial Intelligence Unit (FIU) on the 9th.
Although the Specific Financial Transactions Act falls under the FIU, the Financial Supervisory Service carries out inspection and some sanction tasks on behalf. The Financial Supervisory Service detected violations of customer verification obligations during on-site inspections and reported them to the FIU in August.
According to the sanctions plan announced by the FIU, it was found that Woori Bank's A branch and two other branches did not verify customer identification when opening accounts for individual clients in 2022 and 2023.
Additionally, Woori Bank's B branch and three other branches failed to properly verify the authority of agents when opening new accounts for five corporate clients from March to August 2022. According to the Specific Financial Transactions Act, financial companies, such as banks, must verify the delegation relationship by receiving documents such as power of attorney and seal certification when transactions are conducted through an agent. It is reported that Woori Bank conducted transactions without receiving the necessary documents for identity verification.
Following a series of financial accidents, the Financial Supervisory Service has initiated a regular inspection of Woori Financial Group and Woori Bank in October. The Financial Supervisory Service plans to announce the results of the inspection in January next year.