Gunster – Banking Advisory, January 2009
On December 19, 2008, the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (“OCC”) announced its issuance of a consent order (“Consent Order”) against Eastern National Bank, Miami (“Eastern”).The Consent Order was executed on October 24,2008, but was not announced until December 19,2008.
The Consent Order provides that Eastern failed to maintain a system of internal controls to assure ongoing compliance with the Bank Secrecy Act(“BSA”) as well as file Suspicious Activity Reports.Without admitting or denying any wrongdoing, Eastern consented to the issuance of the Consent Order and agreed to pay a civil money penalty in the amount of two hundred thousand dollars ($200,000).
The Consent Order is one of three (3) regulatoryactions that Eastern received in 2008. On June 4,2008, the OCC issued a consent order against Eastern for unsafe and unsound banking practices relating to compliance management and violations of BSA/Anti-Money Laundering (“AML”) regulations. On October 17, 2008, Eastern agreed to pay a sixteen thousand dollar ($16,000) fine imposed by the OCC for extending loans in a special floodhazard area without requiring the prerequisite flood insurance for the properties.
Actions such as the Consent Order show thatBSA/AML continues to be of high importance as regulators continue to be vigilant of BSA/AML compliance matters during difficult economic times.
Should you wish to receive further informationconcerning matters discussed in this BankingAdvisory, please contact Clemente Vazquez-Bello,Esq. at (305) 376-6082, Andres A. Fernandez, Esq.at (305) 376-6097 or Marina Olman, Esq. at (305)376-6069 or at [email protected],[email protected] or [email protected].
This Banking Advisory is for general information only. It is not legal advice, and legal counsel should be contacted before any action is taken which might be influenced by this Banking Advisory.
