The FinCEN and OCC fine USAA Federal Savings Bank for anti-money laundering failings
FinCEN Announces $140 Million Civil Money Penalty against USAA Federal Savings Bank for Violations of the Banking Secrecy Act
The Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN) today announced that it has assessed a $140 million civil money penalty against USAA Federal Savings Bank (USAA FSB) for willful violations of the Bank Secrecy Act (BSA) and its implementing regulations.
Specifically, USAA FSB admitted that it willfully failed to implement and maintain an anti‑money laundering (AML) program that met the minimum requirements of the BSA from at least January 2016 through April 2021. USAA FSB also admitted that it willfully failed to accurately and timely report thousands of suspicious transactions to FinCEN involving suspicious financial activity by its customers, including customers using personal accounts for apparent criminal activity.
“As its customer base and revenue grew in recent years, USAA FSB willfully failed to ensure that its compliance program kept pace, resulting in millions of dollars in suspicious transactions flowing through the U.S. financial system without appropriate reporting,” said FinCEN’s Acting Director Himamauli Das. “USAA FSB also received ample notice and opportunity to remediate its inadequate AML program, but repeatedly failed to do so. Today’s action signals that growth and compliance must be paired, and AML program deficiencies, especially deficiencies identified by federal regulators, must be promptly and effectively addressed”… Read the full press release here: https://www.fincen.gov/news/news-releases/fincen-announces-140-million-civil-money-penalty-against-usaa-federal-savings
The full FinCEN Consent Order imposing Civil Money Penalty can be found here: https://www.fincen.gov/sites/default/files/enforcement_action/2022-03-18/USAA%20Consent%20Order_Final%20508%20(2).pdf
OCC Assesses $60 Million Civil Money Penalty, Issues Cease and Desist Order Against USAA
The Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC) today assessed a $60 million civil money penalty against USAA, Federal Savings Bank, for violations of the OCC’s Bank Secrecy Act regulations. The OCC also issued a Cease and Desist Order against the bank based on its failure to establish and maintain an effective Bank Secrecy Act/Anti Money Laundering (BSA/AML) program.
The OCC found that USAA, Federal Savings Bank, failed to adopt and implement a BSA/AML program that adequately covered the requirements of the Bank Secrecy Act and its implementing regulations. Such deficiencies resulted in the bank’s failure to file timely suspicious activity reports. The bank also failed to correct BSA/AML internal control problems that the OCC had previously identified and reported to it… Read the full press release here: https://occ.gov/news-issuances/news-releases/2022/nr-occ-2022-25.html
The full OCC Civil Money Penalty can be found here: https://www.occ.gov/static/enforcement-actions/ea2022-009.pdf
The full OCC Consent Order can be found here: https://www.occ.gov/static/enforcement-actions/ea2022-008.pdf
