Most were dormant accounts.
190,000 bank accounts were blocked yesterday as the prohibition on money laundering order came into effect. Account-holders who failed to sign the accounts without beneficiaries declaration, under the Prohibition on Money Laundering Law (5760-2000), were affected.
The Banking Supervision Department stated that 60,000 private bank accounts that lacked vital data, such as the owners I.D. number or date of birth; 70,000 accounts of foreign residents; and 60,000 company accounts, whose owners had filled a controlling shareholders declaration were blocked. Most blocked accounts were dormant accounts.
The Bank of Israel today revealed the number of reports filed by the banks under the prohibition on money laundering order for the period July 2002-June 2003: 127,631, or an average of 10,636 a month. Only 748 reports mentioned unusual activities, under article 9 of the order, which requires the Israel Money Laundering Prohibition Authority to conduct a further investigation.
Published by Globes [online] - www.globes.co.il - on August 19, 2003