On August 18, the OCC terminated its 2022 consent order against a national bank. The order was issued under the Bank Secrecy Act and related anti-money laundering regulations, and required the bank to implement corrective measures in areas such as customer due diligence, suspicious activity monitoring, and governance.
The 2022 order followed OCC findings that the bank, which had received a national trust charter to provide digital asset custody and related financial services, failed to adopt and implement an adequate Bank Secrecy Act and anti-money laundering compliance program. The OCC alleged that the bank lacked effective internal controls for customer due diligence, had insufficient procedures to monitor digital asset transactions for suspicious activity, and failed to meet due diligence requirements for foreign correspondent accounts.
The consent order required the establishment of a board-level compliance committee, appointment of a qualified Bank Secrecy Act officer, submission of a remediation plan, implementation of transaction monitoring systems to capture digital asset activity and risks involving unhosted (self-custody) wallets, enhanced audit and training programs, and strengthened data governance and recordkeeping.
The OCC stated that the bank’s continued supervision under the 2022 order was no longer necessary to assure its safety and soundness or compliance with applicable law. The termination formally releases the bank from the order’s remediation requirements.
Putting It Into Practice: Federal regulators continue to terminate enforcement actions initiated under the previous administration (previously discussed here, here, and here). For banks that handle digital assets and other fintech-focused national banks, the termination signals that effective remediation and governance can result in the full closure of consent orders. Market participants should continue to track federal activity in this space and ensure their Bank Secrecy Act programs remain responsive to evolving compliance expectations.
