FSA/PN/119/2001
20/09/2001

The Financial Services Authority (FSA) reminds the firms that it regulates that they should check their records for names of alleged subjects under investigation by the FBI in connection with the World Trade Center and Pentagon terrorist attacks. The FBI list of names is available on the FSA website. Firms are also reminded of their general legal obligations to report suspicious transactions.

Carol Sergeant, Managing Director of Regulatory Processes and Risk at the FSA, said:

Many financial institutions have already checked their records for these names. This is, however, not just something that banks should be looking at - it is an issue for all financial institutions in the UK.

Firms should review any dealings with these individuals, if they have not already done so, to ensure all necessary suspicious transaction reports have been made to the National Criminal Intelligence Service in the usual way.

Firms should not of course confine themselves to these names. I want to remind them that they have a legal responsibility to report any suspicious transaction.

The FSA will be contacting firms it regulates to ensure they are checking their records in line with this request.

Separately, the Bank of England has also written to banks in the UK reminding them of the long-standing financial sanctions imposed by the United Nations against the Taliban, Usama Bin Laden or anyone acting on their behalf.

The FSA continues to liaise closely with the National Criminal Intelligence Service, the Metropolitan Police and the Bank of England and all other relevant authorities both in the UK and elsewhere. We encourage firms to check our website on a regular basis for further updates on this.

Notes for editors

  1. Details of the FBIs list of alleged suspects is available from the FSAs website http://www.fsa.gov.uk or the FBIs website http://www.fbi.gov

  2. Details of the sanctions against those connected to the Taliban are available from the Bank of England's website http://www.bankofengland.co.uk

  3. The FSA is the principal regulator of the UK financial services industry and has four objectives under the Financial Services and Markets Act 2000: maintaining market confidence; promoting public understanding of the financial system; the protection of consumers; and fighting financial crime.

  4. The FSA aims to maintain efficient, orderly and clean financial markets and help retail consumers achieve a fair deal.

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