News
Regulators Issued Fewer AML Fines in 2014, But Packed a Bigger Punch
By Colby Adams, Kira Zalan and Irene Madongo
printSometimes a decline in bank enforcement actions isn't a good thing, even for bankers. Such is the takeaway of a review of enforcement action data spanning back five years, during which the number of formal Bank Secrecy Act penalties fell nearly 20 percent while fines and regulatory demands grew. In 2014, the U.S. Treasury Department, Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. (FDIC), and Federal Reserve Board issued 45 enforcement actions for anti-money laundering (AML) infractions, an 11 percent drop from the 2013 total, according to data reviewed by ACAMS moneylaundering.com. The ongoing annual decline in the number of AML-related regulatory orders was...
TO READ THE FULL STORY
Subscribe
Learn More
Related News
U.S. federal regulators issued significantly fewer enforcement actions in response to Bank Secrecy Act and anti-money laundering program breaches in 2016 than the previous year, and fined only a quarter of the institutions they cited for such infractions.
Federal regulators of anti-money laundering rules issued 16 percent more enforcement actions in 2015 than in the previous year, a jump due in part to an intensified focus on nonbank firms.
For the first time, U.S. officials have blacklisted a foreign financial institution using a July 2012 executive order that prohibits significant transactions with the Central Bank of Iran.
The number of enforcement actions issued annually by the top regulator of large U.S. banks declined in 2013, according to a semiannual report on risk published Wednesday by the agency.
An expected jump in regulatory penalties against individual bankers is motivating more compliance officers to look into obtaining personal liability insurance, with perhaps disappointing results.
Last year, I told you not to believe any of that "best of years, worst of years" stuff à la Charles Dickens with regard to 2012. But if 2013 was less eventful than the prior year, every indication is that 2014 will be "challenging" for financial institutions and regulators.
With plenty of convincing reasons, representatives of the law enforcement and compliance industry say the coming year is fraught with serious challenges.
Relative to the year before, the anti-money laundering (AML) compliance industry drew few headlines over the past 12 months, and yet no one would tell you their job got any easier.
Fines and monetary settlements paid in 2012 by banks for anti-money laundering and counterterrorism financing violations increased 131-fold from the previous year, ACAMS moneylaundering.com data shows.
The U.S. government's financial intelligence unit will resume an abandoned practice of fining banks for Bank Secrecy Act violations apart from the enforcement actions it works on with federal regulators, say sources.
For many anti-money laundering and sanctions professionals, 2012 will be remembered as a year of record fines. Banks paid billions to settle AML and sanctions compliance violations, with one penalty alone reaching almost $2 billion.
A slew of recent enforcement actions issued by federal regulators contain stern warnings for senior bank managers that they are responsible for their institution's compliance with U.S. anti-money laundering rules, say analysts.
The number of federal anti-money laundering enforcement actions issued in the first half of 2012 fell by 35 percent in comparison to the total levied during the same period last year, data shows.
The number of fines levied by the U.S. nongovernmental regulator of securities and brokerage firms more than doubled in the first five months of 2012 compared to the same period in 2011.
A report by the United Kingdom's chief financial regulator on the anti-bribery compliance efforts of investment banks likely signals coming enforcement actions, and greater scrutiny of depository institutions, say former officials.
The total number of anti-money laundering enforcement fines handed down by federal regulators rose by 67 percent in 2011 compared to the previous year.
Federal banking regulators are increasingly relying on informal actions to pressure banks to improve their anti-money laundering programs out of the public spotlight, say compliance professionals.
High regulatory fines for anti-money laundering and sanctions violations have prodded U.S. financial institutions to reinvest in their transaction monitoring software over the past two years, a Boston-based research firm said.
The overall number of regulatory enforcement actions against banks jumped 52 percent in the first half of 2010 in comparison to the number issued in the first half of 2009.
Bank board of directors members can expect to pay civil money penalties if their institutions fail to correct Bank Secrecy Act violations, a Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. official said on Tuesday.