General Counsel James Strother agreed to a $3.5 million settlement to become the seventh former senior executive at Wells Fargo fined by the OCC for their role in the bank’s fake account scandal.
Financial Services
Capital One fined $390M for ‘egregious’ AML compliance failures
Capital One will pay a $390 million civil penalty for compliance failures regarding banking services offered to its check cashing group, which—according to FinCEN—had a reputation for money-laundering risks.
Rushing technology decisions comes with big compliance risks
Embracing technology to help manage risk and improve efficiencies is a trend that’s been developing in the compliance space for a while, but the pandemic has fast-tracked the urgency behind it, according to a couple of recent surveys.
OCC finalizes controversial ‘Fair Access’ rule as acting head departs
The Office of the Comptroller of the Currency published its much-criticized “Fair Access to Financial Services” rule the same day Acting Comptroller of the Currency Brian Brooks announced he is stepping down.
All signs point to aggressive consumer protection under Biden
Consumer protection initiatives are expected to be a major area of focus for President-elect Joe Biden, who is widely anticipated to breathe new life into the enforcement priorities of federal and state agencies with such powers.
Deutsche Bank to pay $130M to settle bribery, ‘spoofing’ charges
Deutsche Bank has agreed to pay more than $130 million to resolve charges that it paid bribes to third parties to secure business deals in Asia and the Middle East, in addition to a separate commodities fraud “spoofing” case.
U.K. tax authority fines MT Global record $32.4M for AML failures
MT Global Limited, a U.K.-based money transfer company, was hit with a record £23.8 million (U.S. $32.4 million) fine by the U.K.’s tax authority for violations of anti-money laundering regulations.
OFAC fines French bank UBAF $8.6M for Syria-related sanctions violations
The Office of Foreign Assets Control settled with a French bank for processing payments on behalf of sanctioned Syrian financial institutions that were followed by corresponding funds transfers through the U.S. financial system.
CFTC’s foray into FCPA enforcement creates new risk factors
The CFTC’s recent fine ladled onto a DOJ investigation into foreign corrupt practices by Swiss energy trader Vitol S.A. should force companies with any exposure in the commodities market to reexamine their risk profiles, experts say.
BitGo fined $99K for digital currency sanctions violations
The Office of Foreign Assets Control announced an approximately $99,000 settlement with digital asset platform BitGo for lapses in its sanctions compliance procedures that led to 183 apparent violations of multiple sanctions programs.


