OCC Notifies Banks of Civil Money Penalty Inflation Adjustments and New Flood Insurance Penalties

OCC Flood Insurance Biggert-Waters Act

On November 20, the OCC issued Bulletin 2012-38 to advise national banks and federal savings associations about a recent OCC rule that adjusted the maximum civil money penalties (CMPs) for inflation and implemented higher flood insurance CMPs. The OCC rule revises the penalty tables that identify the statutes that provide the OCC with CMP authority, describe the different tiers of penalties provided in each statute, and set out the maximum penalty the OCC may impose pursuant to each statutory provision. The rule also implements the Biggert-Waters Flood Insurance Reform Act, which was signed into law on July 6, 2012 as part of a broad transportation bill. That Act increased the maximum CMP per flood insurance violation and removed the annual cap on flood insurance penalties assessed against a single lender in a calendar year.  Effective December 6, 2012, any regulated lending institution that is found to have a pattern or practice of committing flood insurance violations will be assessed a civil penalty not to exceed $2,000 per violation, with no calendar year limit on such penalties.