FWD Group (HKG:1828) was ordered by Hong Kong's Insurance Authority to pay HK$19.5 million for breaches of anti-money laundering and counter-terrorist financing requirements, according to a disciplinary action statement on Thursday.

The breaches between April 2012 and September 2024 involved third-party payments, suspicious transaction monitoring, politically exposed persons and customer due diligence.

The IA found that 68 of 129 sampled bank drafts, each for HK$400,000 to HK$4.7 million, were not purchased by the policyholders or other declared payors.

FWD also failed to review 306 policies involving HK$23.8 million in split cash payments and missed more than 100 potentially suspicious transaction alerts.

The IA said the breaches reflected systemic weaknesses in FWD's control and governance, while noting the company's cooperation and progress in remediation.