D.C. Circuit Forces Banking Regulators to Revisit Order Barring Bank Director from Bank Activities

Federal Reserve OCC Directors & Officers

On January 29, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit held that the OCC and the Federal Reserve Board (FRB) improperly prohibited a bank director from participating in future banking activities of several institutions based on an agreement the director made to avoid state-level prosecution on perjury charges. DeNaples v. OCC, No. 12-1162, 2013 WL 322531 (D.C. Cir. Jan. 29, 2013). Under Section 19 of the Federal Deposit Insurance Act, banking regulators can prohibit an individual from participating in the affairs of an insured depository institution if the individual has been convicted of certain criminal offenses, or if the individual has entered into a “pretrial diversion or similar program” related to those criminal charges. In this case, the OCC and the FRB determined that a bank director could not participate in the affairs of several institutions with which he was affiliated because the director entered an agreement with state prosecutors by which the prosecutors withdrew perjury charges in exchange for certain actions taken by the bank director. The agencies determined the agreement constituted a “pretrial diversion or similar program.” When the bank director refused to halt his participation, the OCC and the FRB issued cease and desist orders requiring the director to terminate his relationship with the institutions. On appeal, the court held that the regulators applied an improper definition of “pretrial diversion or similar program” when they reasoned that the ordinary meaning of the phrase extends to any conditional agreement to withdraw charges. The court held that the definition must require more than any quid pro quo, and that the regulators should consider whether an agreement to avoid charges includes a voluntary agreement for treatment, rehabilitation, restitution or other noncriminal or nonpunitive alternatives. The court vacated the agencies’ orders and directed the agencies to determine on remand whether the conditions required by the state-level agreement fit within the parameters of a “pretrial diversion or similar program,” as established by the court.