(Bloomberg) -- Lloyds Banking Group Plc has tightened controls in Jersey to meet anti-money-laundering requirements on the island.
Lloyds has frozen accounts of some offshore banking customers as part of a crackdown on money laundering, a spokesman said. The Financial Times, which reported the news earlier, said 8,000 accounts were frozen. The bank didn't confirm the number.
The company started contacting clients three years ago asking them to provide up-to-date details. “Where a customer has not provided us with this necessary information we have had to freeze their account until we get the information,” the bank said in a statement.
The changes come as Jersey, one of the self-governing Channel Islands off the British coast, implemented new rules for money laundering. Barclays Plc, HSBC Holdings Plc and Royal Bank of Scotland Group Plc have all tightened their rules in Jersey, the FT reported. Barclays and RBS spokespeople declined to comment, while HSBC was not immediately available for comment.
The issue of tackling money laundering has moved up the agenda across Europe as Danske Bank A/S grapples with a scandal over funds that passed through its Estonian branch.
To contact the reporter on this story: Stefania Spezzati in London at sspezzati@bloomberg.net
To contact the editors responsible for this story: Ambereen Choudhury at achoudhury@bloomberg.net, Marion Dakers, Keith Campbell
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