MUFG Is Said to Move Financial Crime Compliance Unit to New York

(Bloomberg) -- Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group Inc.’s main banking unit has shifted its global headquarters for financial crimes compliance to New York from Tokyo, as it steps up its drive to combat illegal transactions, according to people familiar with the matter.

Bank of Tokyo-Mitsubishi UFJ Ltd.’s Global Financial Crimes Division opened Nov. 30, said the people who asked not to be identified as the move hasn’t been announced. A team of 1,350 staff led by William Langford in the New York headquarters and Hiroshi Ikebe in Tokyo will work to strengthen the bank’s efforts to prevent activities such as terrorism financing, money laundering, and sanctions violations.

MUFG was fined by the New York State Department of Financial Services in 2013 for processing transactions linked to countries subject to sanctions including Iran and Sudan between 2002 and 2007. In a second consent order from the DFS a year later, the bank was ordered to relocate certain financial crime functions to the U.S.

The renamed New York division goes beyond the order and was a major decision showing the bank takes financial crime compliance seriously, the people said.

Placing the headquarters in the U.S. is beneficial for MUFG as it gives the bank access to the market for personnel with the relevant experience and expertise to deal with the authorities there, according to the people.

Separately, MUFG said in a statement last month that it converted supervision of its New York branch to the U.S. Office of the Comptroller of the Currency as part of efforts to consolidate its nationwide operations under one federal regulator. The bank said it agreed to a consent order “substantively the same” as the earlier DFS orders with the OCC, and plans to continue enhancing internal controls.

To contact the reporters on this story: Gareth Allan in Tokyo at gallan11@bloomberg.net, Yuki Hagiwara in Tokyo at yhagiwara1@bloomberg.net.

To contact the editors responsible for this story: Marcus Wright at mwright115@bloomberg.net, Andy Sharp

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