The U.K.’s Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) has handed down a record penalty of £163 million to Deutsche Bank AG for failing to maintain adequate anti-money laundering (AML) controls between January 2012 and the end of 2015.

The serious failings in Deutsche Bank’s AML controls allowed billions to be transferred from Russia to offshore accounts via the bank and the ensuing fine represents the largest financial penalty for AML controls failings the FCA has imposed.

The bank “exposed the U.K. financial system to the risks of financial crime by failing to properly oversee the formation of new customer relationships and the booking of global business in the U.K.,” the FCA reports

In particular, Deutsche Bank was used by unidentified customers to transfer approximately US$10 billion “from Russia to offshore bank accounts in a manner that is highly suggestive of financial crime,” the FCA says.

The deficiencies in Deutsche Bank’s AML control framework included inadequate customer due diligence; relying on flawed customer and country risk rating methodologies; and having deficient AML policies, procedures and IT infrastructure, the FCA says.

Deutsche Bank was exceptionally co-operative during the investigation and it has devoted significant resources to fixing the deficiencies, the regulator says. The bank also agreed to settle at an early stage, entitling it to a 30% discount on its fine, which otherwise would have been £229 million.

“Financial crime is a risk to the U.K. financial system. Deutsche Bank was obliged to establish and maintain an effective AML control framework. By failing to do so, Deutsche Bank put itself at risk of being used to facilitate financial crime and exposed the U.K. to the risk of financial crime,” says Mark Steward, director of enforcement and market oversight with the FCA.

“The size of the fine reflects the seriousness of Deutsche Bank’s failings,” he adds. “We have repeatedly told firms how to comply with our AML requirements and the failings of Deutsche Bank are simply unacceptable. Other firms should take notice of today’s fine and look again at their own AML procedures to ensure they do not face similar action.”