On October 23, 2018, the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC) announced $100 million in civil money penalties against Capital One Bank based on deficiencies in the bank’s Bank Secrecy Act/Anti-Money Laundering (BSA/AML) compliance program.

The penalties are linked to Capital One’s failure to adequately respond to a 2015 Cease and Desist Order issued by the OCC against the bank. In the 2015 order, the OCC alleged the bank:

  • Lacked an enterprise-wide BSA/AML risk assessment;
  • Had systemic deficiencies in its transaction monitoring systems, risk management, and quality assurance programs for its remote deposit capture services;
  • Had systemic deficiencies in its customer due diligence processes;
  • Failed to have customer due diligence and enhanced due diligence policies and processes; and
  • Failed to adequately file suspicious activity reports (SAR) related to significant volumes of suspicious activity.

In response to the 2015 order, Capital One performed a BSA/AML look-back review that resulted in additional SAR filings; however, the OCC determined the bank failed to implement all of the changes ordered by the agency to address its BSA/AML compliance program deficiencies in a timely fashion.