The disclosure that some of the world’s largest banks had been used as a conduit for bribes allegedly paid to football officials has prompted the banks to scrutinise their ties with FIFA, and could make it more difficult for the sport’s powerful governing body to move money around the world.
Major US and European banks say they are stepping up scrutiny of FIFA-related accounts, and are wary in particular of ties to two regional member organisations that feature prominently in the US Department of Justice’s indictment.
US authorities have charged nine current or former FIFA officials and five sports industry executives in a $150 million bribery scheme, which relied heavily on the US financial system.
Of the nine football officials, seven were former or current officials at either CONCACAF,the North-American, Central American and Caribbean football association, or at CONMEBOL, the South American regional football organisation.
A top compliance official at one of the banks named in the court documents said it would close any accounts of accused parties and closely review other FIFA-related accounts, especially those associated with CONCACAF. More scrutiny will now also be given to other sporting entities, such as the US Olympic Committee, the official added.
Unless government allegations of bribery and money laundering expand to include the organisation itself, FIFA and its affiliated bodies should be able to use banking services, executives at several banks said.
“They’re going to be very closely scrutinised, but they won’t lose their accounts... absent the government bringing forth evidence that FIFA was acting as a corrupt organisation,” said a senior compliance officer at another large bank named in the court documents.
More scrutiny will now also be given to other sporting entities
None of the more than a dozen banks mentioned in the US indictment, which include some of the largest global financial institutions, such as JPMorgan Chase, Bank of America, Citigroup, HSBC and Barclays are accused of any wrongdoing. Still, the senior compliance officer told Reuters that banks “kind of panicked” after comments by Kelly T. Currie, acting US Attorney for the Eastern District of New York, who said banks’ actions would be reviewed to determine if they knowingly facilitated bribe payments.
An HSBC spokesman said: “We are continuing to review the allegations in the indictments... to ensure that our services are not being misused for financial crime.”
Citigroup has said it has cooperated with the US probe. JPMorgan and Bank of America declined to comment. Barclays did not return a request for comment.
CONCACAF said it was “deeply concerned” about the developments and that it was cooperating with authorities. CONCACAF conducted business using accounts at the Florida and New York branches of major US and Swiss financial institutions, the indictment shows, without being specific about the banks concerned.
FIFA was dogged by corruption allegations for years before the latest scandal, and at least one major European bank said it has not been providing banking for FIFA because of that.
“It’s not forbidden [to do business with FIFA] but due to reputational risks, we just don’t need it,” said a spokesman at the bank, which asked not to be identified due to the sensitivity of the topic.
When asked about FIFA, a spokeswoman for the Financial Action Task Force on Money Laundering (FATF), which sets international anti-money laundering standards, said that “at this stage, there are no plans to issue further guidance on the provision of banking services to such officials”.
The Office of the Comptroller of the Currency, a regulator that oversees major US banks such as Bank of America and Citigroup, declined to comment on FIFA.
But the OCC says it leaves it to banks to decide on a case-by-case whether to terminate relationships with individual clients, just telling them to keep a close eye on risk.