Washington Federal Bank pays $2.5M BSA/AML penalty

The OCC has issued a Consent Order to Washington Federal Bank, National Association, Seattle, Washington, directing the bank to pay a civil money penalty of $2.5 million for BSA/AML compliance violations. The Comptroller found, and the bank neither admits nor denies that:

1. The Bank failed to adopt and implement a Bank Secrecy Act/Anti-Money Laundering (“BSA/AML”) compliance program that adequately covered the required BSA/AML program elements. This resulted in a BSA/AML compliance program violation under 12 U.S.C. § 1818(s) and its implementing regulation, 12 C.F.R. § 21.21.
2. The Bank failed to file the necessary Suspicious Activity Reports concerning suspicious activity, in violation of 12 C.F.R. § 21.11.
3. The Bank failed to file necessary Currency Transaction Reports, in violation of 31 C.F.R. § 1010.306 and 31 C.F.R. § 1010.313.
4. The Bank failed to include required information on transmittal orders, in violation of 31 C.F.R. § 1010.410(f).