22/09/2020 Statement by PPF banka

In late September, both the international and Czech media published articles based on documents unlawfully leaked from the database of the U.S. Treasury’s Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN). Information that purportedly concerns PPF banka appears in these articles.

Unfortunately, Czech laws and European regulations do not allow for the bank to publish or comment on specific transactions or name the bank’s clients. Therefore we are also unable to comment on the findings contained in these articles. 

PPF banka strictly follows the anti-money laundering (AML) regulations. We thoroughly assess clients based on the strictly specified risk factors under international AML standards. Where we identify a high-risk client, we adopt additional measures and may notify the competent authorities of suspicious transactions. Therefore, it cannot be ruled out that some cases, previously reported by PPF banka, are included in FinCEN’s leaked documents.

 Finally, our regulator, the Czech National Bank, has never investigated or penalised PPF banka for failing to follow the anti-money laundering and terrorism financing regulations.