MUFG Union Bank fined $15M for deceptive practices

The OCC has issued a consent order for the payment of a $15,000,000 civil money penalty by MUFG Bank, N.A., for engaging in deceptive practices in violation of Section 5 of the Federal Trade Commission Act. The OCC found, and the bank neither admitted nor denied, that:

1. Between at least 2011 and 2021, the Bank stated in account disclosures that all customers of The Private Bank Program would receive certain fee waivers and discounts. However, during this period, the Bank did not apply these fee waivers and discounts as described and only applied the fee waivers and discounts to certain customers of The Private Bank Program.
2. Between at least 2005 and 2020, the Bank stated in account disclosures that it would waive or discount the fee for safe deposit box rentals for certain customers. However, during this period, the Bank did not apply the safe deposit rental fee waivers and discounts as described.
3. Between at least 2013 and 2021, the Bank stated in account disclosures that it would waive monthly service charge fees for deposit accounts under certain conditions, including if the customer had a mortgage with the Bank or if the customer maintained minimum deposit balances across multiple linked accounts. Regarding the customers with mortgages, the disclosures did not state that the eligible customers must affirmatively request their mortgage be linked to their deposit account to receive the monthly service charge fee waiver. Even when customers requested to link either a mortgage or other deposit account, the Bank did not always implement the requests. Therefore, during this period, the Bank did not apply monthly service charge fee waivers as described.
4. These incidents were caused by one or more weaknesses in the design or execution of procedures and internal controls within the Bank.
5. By reason of the foregoing conduct, the Bank engaged in deceptive practices in violation of Section 5 of the FTC Act, 15 U.S.C. § 45(a)(1), which were part of a pattern of misconduct and resulted in pecuniary gain to the Bank.
6. The Bank self-identified these violations of law and is reimbursing customers affected by and is taking appropriate remedial actions to correct these violations.