PRA fines staff of Japanese bank for failing to disclose ban

Last year, the PRA fined The Bank of Tokyo-Mitsubishi a total of £27m for not disclosing a $315m fine which it received from the New York Department of Financial Services in 2014.

The DFS found the bank had pressured a consultant to water down a supposedly objective report on its dealings with sanctioned countries which was submitted to the US regulator.

It later banned the chair of Mitsubishi UFJ Securities, Akira Kamiya, from conducting any US banking business, but the PRA was not informed about the DFS action until after the publication of the consent order.

Kamiya has been fined £22,700 and a former non-executive director, Takami Onodera, has received a fine of £14,945 for failing to disclose the ban

In a statement, the PRA said: "The requirement to disclose appropriately any information of which the FCA or PRA would reasonably expect notice is currently set out in Senior Manager Conduct Rule 4. The duty imposed by that rule includes a duty to make disclosures in the absence of any request or enquiry from the PRA."

Sam Woods, deputy governor for prudential regulation and CEO of the PRA, commented: "It is vital that firms and individuals are completely open and cooperative with the regulator, and that they disclose appropriately any information of which the PRA would reasonably expect notice. We are today imposing financial penalties on Mr Kamiya and Mr Onodera for their failure to meet this disclosure standard, in addition to the financial penalties already imposed on the firm."

A spokesperson for Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group said: “Today’s announcement relates to historic breaches, and the roles played by individuals. MUFG has learned from this incident and is fully committed to being open to regulators in every jurisdiction in which we operate.”