Central Bank fines banks
for housing loan violations

$4.6 million in penalties for 389 infractions

The Central Bank has slapped $4.6 million in fines on banks that did not comply with regulations for granting subsidized housing loans, a statement by the Central Bank said.

“As a result of the ongoing inspection by the Banking Control Commission and Central Bank regarding the housing loan portfolio of a number of banks since 2011 to date, we discovered that some clients and banks did not comply with the right implementation of the articles and provisions of circulars issued by the Central Bank that govern the mechanism of benefiting from housing loans and the objectives granted for them,” the statement said.

There were 389 violations, 48 of which are related to housing loans subsidized by the Central Bank, which have a combined value of $495,000.

Eight other violations are being studied, and they too will be fined.

The Central Bank did not disclose the names of violating clients and banks.

Some 131,000 subsidized loans totaling $12.6 billion were approved between August 2009 and May of this year, with an average value of $97,000.