Banks avoid penalties in OCC deals, agree to shore up AML/BSA, board oversight

Among the enforcement actions issued by the Treasury Department’s Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC) in August, two banks were separately penalized for deficiencies in anti-money laundering and Bank Secrecy Act compliance (AML/BSA) and board oversight.

Pennsylvania-based Slovenian Savings & Loan Association entered into an agreement with the OCC to remediate issues that included alleged unsafe and unsound practices in internal audit, AML/BSA, internal controls, and training.

The bank agreed to submit reports on its internal audit and AML/BSA programs to the OCC that explain how the bank is remediating issues, including the results of independent testing of its AML/BSA program. Other areas the bank must address are its processes and procedures for due diligence and risk identification.