On February 29, 2015, the OCC published a bulletin summarizing its process for initiating and proceeding with any enforcement action for noncompliance with Bank Secrecy Act compliance program requirements or repeated or uncorrected BSA compliance problems. The OCC bulletin supplements the "Interagency Statement on Enforcement of Bank Secrecy Act/Anti-Money Laundering Requirements" and rescinds OCC Bulletin 2005-45, "Process for Taking Administrative Enforcement Actions Against Banks Based on BSA Violations," dated December 23, 2005. The revised OCC bulletin describes the OCC's process for conducting administrative enforcement actions based on BSA-compliance issues, which, in each case, begins with a cease-and-desist order issued by the OCC. Pursuant to the OCC bulletin, the enforcement action process now includes a provision which requires the OCC to give any bank investigated by the OCC for noncompliance with BSA or anti-money laundering requirements an opportunity to respond before the decision to issue a cease-and-desist order is finalized. In each case, the OCC will notify the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network of all formal and informal enforcement actions.
More information regarding the OCC bulletin is available at: http://www.occ.gov/news-issuances/bulletins/2016/bulletin-2016-6.html.
The content of this article is intended to provide a general guide to the subject matter. Specialist advice should be sought about your specific circumstances.
