Abrdn hit by anti-money laundering failures at Luxembourg arm

According to the Sunday Times, an audit at the firm’s Luxembourg subsidiary revealed missing documentation for some clients in two of its Sicavs European umbrella funds, which hold investment products.

In response, Abrdn informed the local regulator and immediately suspended some client accounts.

In an internal email, Calum Wallace, Abrdn’s regional head of client services, said the board had "taken the decision to immediately partially block the accounts of 40 high-risk accounts".

The final number was 23, the newspaper noted, 18 of which were deemed high-risk and five because they were missing documentation. Some of the high-risk accounts are thought to be connected to politically-exposed people such as government officials, the Sunday Times added.

Abrdn told the paper: "We are working with a small number of clients in our Luxembourg business to resolve a historic issue relating to documentation. We maintain a routine of regular engagement with the relevant regulators, who have been kept informed throughout."

The report coincided with Abrdn asking Martin Gilbert, the firm’s co-founder, to step down from the boards of two Luxembourg-based Sicavs because of potential conflicts of interest. The firm told the FT that his departure was not, however, related to the issues surrounding the funds’ anti-money laundering processes.

Gilbert co-founded Aberdeen Asset Management in 1983. In 2017, Aberdeen merged with Standard Life before being rebranded last year as Abrdn by chief executive Stephen Bird, who joined in 2020.

Its share price has plummeted since the merger, however, and last month Abrdn was demoted from the FTSE 100. As at 1115 BST on Monday, shares in the fund manager were ahead nearly 1% at 133.85p. The stock has lost 46% so far this year.