The U.S. Office of Thrift Supervision failed to determine whether federal savings associations had fully implemented Bank Secrecy Act and Patriot Act compliance programs in 82 of 95 recent exams, according to a government auditor. Examiners "frequently accepted" that thrifts were compliant with anti-money laundering regulation based only on the institution's written policies and procedures, the U.S. Treasury Department's Office of Inspector General said in a May 15 report. OTS examiners failed to verify that those procedures had been implemented, the government auditor said. The government auditor said that the OTS subsequently needed to provide guidance to examiners "to ensure...
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