The National Bank of Georgia [NBG] said media reports on a fine imposed by the body on a financial institution were “inaccurate” without the context of the recipient of the penalty being only 1 of entities to be fined over the recent years.

“Yesterday, the NBG published information about the supervisory actions of the financial sector. Despite the detailed explanation, some media outlets shared inaccurate information about the fines imposed on NBG-supervised entities, presenting it as if only one specific financial institution was fined.

We explain once again that the NBG inspects all entities of the financial sector on a regular basis within the scope of its authority. Based on the findings of the inspection, appropriate recommendations and measures are determined for the financial institutions concerned. Supervisory actions may include fining an entity of the financial sector. The imposition of fines by the NBG against financial institutions is preventative and the purpose is to improve the internal control mechanisms of the financial institution.

In accordance with the Association Agreement, the information about the sanction imposed by the NBG on the entity of the financial sector is public and is published regularly since 2020. All types of sanctions applied for violating the requirements of anti-money laundering and anti-terrorist financing legislation are subject to publication, regardless of the type, category, content of the sanction, the amount of the monetary fine, and the materiality of the violation.

A total of 181 supervised entities have been fined since 2021:

Commercial Banks: 11
Payment service providers: 12
Brokerages: 5
Microfinance institutions: 32
Securities registrars: 3
Lending entities: 6
Currency exchange bureaus: 112

Detailed information on fines for specific entities is available on the NBG website.

We call on the media to provide the public with the information shared by the NBG in full, without changing the facts, to avoid misleading the audience”, - reads the statement of NBG.