At a time when other large banks were stacking their risk and compliance departments amid intensified banking regulatory scrutiny, USAA’s risk and compliance functions remained woefully understaffed in an organization plagued by systemic violations of laws that went unaddressed for years. In exclusive interviews with Compliance Week, former USAA insiders described a culture in which numerous individuals either were given the axe or quit because the problems were so endemic.

Jaclyn Jaeger is a freelance contributor to Compliance Week after working for the company for 15 years. She writes on a wide variety of topics, including ethics and compliance, risk management, legal,...