The Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC) released a new set of public enforcement actions against national banks and federal savings associations, as well as individuals currently or formerly affiliated with OCC-supervised banks, and announced enhancements to its enforcement action search tool. The actions include a cease and desist order against Bank of America, N.A. for violations and unsafe or unsound practices tied to its Bank Secrecy Act, anti-money laundering, and sanctions compliance programs. Individual actions include prohibition orders and civil money penalties against multiple former Wells Fargo Bank, N.A. executives and employees in connection with sales practices misconduct and related control and audit failures, including a USD 10 million penalty against former Community Bank Group Risk Officer Claudia Russ Anderson, a USD 7 million penalty against former Chief Auditor David Julian, and a USD 1.5 million penalty against former Executive Audit Director Paul McLinko. The OCC also issued prohibition orders involving alleged customer fraud and misappropriation at several banks, including unauthorized ATM withdrawals of at least USD 187,000 (TD Bank, N.A.), losses of at least USD 117,000 from cashing fraudulent checks (Wells Fargo Bank, N.A.), misappropriation of at least USD 15,000 (Fifth Third Bank, N.A.), misappropriation of over USD 164,000 from deceased customers’ accounts (Northfield Bank), and misuse of customer information linked to losses of at least USD 47,000 (PNC Bank, N.A.). In addition, the OCC issued a prohibition order and a cease and desist order against David Wu, a former Sterling Bank and Trust, FSB loan officer and current mortgage broker, tied to undisclosed origination activity and alleged fraudulent conduct used to cause Citizens Bank, N.A. to originate mortgage loans. The updated enforcement actions search tool now allows users to search enforcement actions issued since 2012 by subject matter and more easily view subject matters covered, with public enforcement actions dating back to August 1989 available for download via the OCC’s database.
Office of the Comptroller of the Currency 2025-01-16
Office of the Comptroller of the Currency announces January 2025 enforcement actions including Bank of America BSA order and USD 10 million penalty
The Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC) announced new enforcement actions against national banks, federal savings associations, and individuals, including a cease and desist order against Bank of America, N.A. for compliance violations. Individual penalties include USD 10 million against former Wells Fargo executive Claudia Russ Anderson. The OCC also enhanced its enforcement action search tool, enabling searches by subject matter for actions since 2012.