FDIC releases November enforcement actions

Federal Issues FDIC Enforcement Bank Secrecy Act Bank Compliance FinCEN Customer Due Diligence

On December 27, the FDIC announced a list of administrative enforcement actions taken against banks and individuals in November. The 14 orders include “two consent orders; one civil money penalty; one order terminating consent order; one supervisory prompt corrective directive action; five section 19 orders (prohibiting persons who have been convicted of any criminal offense involving dishonesty, breach of trust, or money laundering from serving as institution-affiliated parties with respect to an insured depository institution); two removal and prohibition orders; and two orders terminating prompt supervisory corrective action directives.” In one action, the FDIC issued a consent order against an Illinois-based bank related to alleged weaknesses in its Bank Secrecy Act (BSA) compliance program. Among other things, the bank is ordered to (i) implement a revised, written BSA compliance program to address BSA and FinCEN regulation provisions, such as suspicious activity reporting, customer due diligence, and beneficial ownership; (ii) update its Customer Due Diligence Program to assure the reasonable detection of suspicious activity; (iii) implement a process for account transaction monitoring; (iv) retain qualified BSA management to ensure compliance with applicable laws and regulations; (v) implement a comprehensive BSA training program for appropriate personnel; (vi) address automated clearing house (ACH) activity and update policies and procedures to monitor credit risk associated with ACH transactions; and (vii) refrain from entering into any new lines of business prior to conducting appropriate due diligence.