Compliance Blog

Posted by Anthony Demangone

If it were a snake, it would have bitten me.  How in the world did I miss this?  In the last issue of The NCUA Report, NCUA details how you can appeal or challenge an examiner's exam finding.  See page 7.  Here's a snippet:

A credit union official who disagrees with a report issued by NCUA’s field staff can request the appropriate regional director review the concerns. To exercise this option, he or she should submit the request for review in writing to the appropriate regional office within 30 days after receiving the final report. The regional director will review concerns in detail, provide a written response, and, when necessary, initiate appropriate corrective action. NCUA’s experience indicates credit unions and agency staff are able to resolve most disagreements informally and expeditiously because the concerns originally stemmed from a breakdown in communication.

I'll let you read the rest, as the article is not too long.  In any event, kudos to NCUA for sharing this information. 

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Yesterday, FinCEN and the FDIC announced that they issued a $25,000 civil money penalty against a Puerto Rico bank for alleged violations of BSA requirements.  Now, here's a quote from the presser that caught my attention:

"This action comes on the heels of our largest-ever action and serves to emphasize that all banks, both large and small, must comply with the BSA. While the issuance of this penalty reflects the severity of the offenses, the size of the penalty reflects other factors that FinCEN takes into consideration with respect to effective enforcement, such as the limited financial resources available to a bank," said FinCEN Director James H. Freis, Jr. Emphasis added.

Hmmm. That quote makes it almost sound as if FinCEN used the enforcement action to make a point that small banks and credit unions must comply with BSA req.  I'm sure Eurobank appreciates being used as "exhibit A." (Well, perhaps they don't mind, as the bank was closed in April by its regulator in Puerto Rico.) In any event, the bank allegedly came up short on all 4 pillars of BSA compliance: 1) internal controls 2) designation of an individual or individuals to coordinate and monitor day-to-day compliance; 3)  training for appropriate personnel;  and  4) independent testing. 

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Shameless plug.  I know many readers of the NAFCU Compliance Blog are vendors or law firms.  Did you know (here it comes) that NAFCU has a number of opportunities for vendors to exhibit at NAFCU conferences.  For example, go to www.nafcu-annual.org to see exhibit information for our annual conference in Chicago.  If you are a compliance-related vendor, we have conferences specifically for compliance officers in the Spring and Fall. Contact Jerome Bruce for additional details, if you are interested.  In addition, we're offering a webcast today for conference exhibitors on how they can take advantage of social media to maximize their efforts.