OCC announces enforcement actions targeting BSA/AML compliance deficiencies

Federal Issues OCC Enforcement Bank Secrecy Act Anti-Money Laundering Risk Management

On April 19, the OCC released a list of recent enforcement actions taken against national banks, federal savings associations, and individuals currently and formerly affiliated with such entities. The new enforcement actions include cease and desist orders, civil money penalty orders, and removal/prohibition orders. The consent orders described below were among those in the OCC’s list:

Cease and Desist Consent Order. On February 28, the OCC issued a consent order against a Washington-based bank for deficiencies related to its Bank Secrecy Act/Anti-Money Laundering (BSA/AML) compliance program. Among other things, the consent order requires the bank to (i) maintain a Compliance Committee consisting of at least three board members; (ii) develop and implement an ongoing BSA/AML risk assessment program; (iii) create and implement BSA internal controls to mitigate risks; (iv) develop and implement policies and procedures for an automated suspicious activity monitoring system; (v) conduct a “Look-Back” to determine whether suspicious activity was timely identified and reported by the bank and whether additional SARs should be filed for previously unreported suspicious activity; (vi) adopt an independent third-party audit program to conduct a review of the bank’s BSA/AML compliance program; and (viii) create a comprehensive training program for appropriate bank personnel. The bank has neither admitted nor denied the findings.

Civil Money Penalty Consent Order. On March 3, the OCC issued a consent order (2018 Order) against an officer of a California-based bank for violating consent orders issued in 2010 and 2014 related to deficiencies identified in the bank’s BSA/AML rules and regulations and for violations of 12 C.F.R. § 21.21 (Procedures for Monitoring Bank Secrecy Act Compliance). According to the 2018 Order, the officer, who was responsible for overseeing the bank’s operations department, allegedly engaged in “unsafe or unsound practices”; made false statements to the OCC and advised other bank employees to corroborate the statements; and “failed to take the necessary actions to ensure that the [b]ank corrected the deficiencies. . .” The 2018 Order requires the officer to, among other things, pay a $5,000 civil money penalty, and—under the cease and desist terms—participate in BSA/AML compliance training and refrain from making any BSA/AML staffing decisions. The officer, while agreeing to the terms of the consent order, has not admitted or denied any wrongdoing.