InfoBytes Blog
FDIC Fines Two California Bank Employees for BSA/AML Violations
On March 31, the FDIC released a list of enforcement actions taken against banks and individuals in February 2017. Among those listed was a February 14 stipulated order imposing a $70,000 civil money penalty against an employee of a California bank (Respondent) for allegedly engaging or participating in actions that caused the bank to violate the Bank Secrecy Act, thus resulting in financial loss or damage. According to the FDIC, the violations reflected a “continuing disregard for the safety or soundness of the bank” and were evidence of the Respondent’s “unfitness to serve as a . . . person participating in the conduct of the affairs, or as an institution-affiliated party of the bank [or] any other insured depository institution.” In addition to the civil money penalty, the Respondent is prohibited from further participation “in any manner in the conduct of the affairs of any financial institution or agency.”
The FDIC also imposed a $30,000 civil money penalty against the bank’s executive vice president of corporate and international banking for breaching his fiduciary duty during the period of 2011 – 2012 by failing to ensure his staff fully complied with the Bank Secrecy Act and its implementing regulations. And, as previously reported in InfoBytes, in July 2015 the bank was fined $140 million by the FDIC and the Commissioner of the California Department of Business Oversight for allegedly failing to implement and maintain a satisfactory BSA/AML compliance program.