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Informal Enforcement Actions Can Be Nearly as Onerous as Formal Orders, Say Bankers
By Brian Monroe
printFederal banking regulators are increasingly relying on informal actions to pressure banks to improve their anti-money laundering programs out of the public spotlight, say compliance professionals. The behind-the-scenes orders, which can involve supervisory letters or private talks that are never documented, have been "a lot more common" in the past two years, said a compliance officer at a large bank in a U.S. territory. The rise in the number of informal actions has touched on all aspects of banking compliance, including anti-money laundering (AML) programs, the person said. The "considerable increase" in the number of informal actions is due to...
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