OCC, Bank of America Enter Agreement Requiring Payment of Profits Plus Interest to Municipalities Harmed by Bid-Rigging on Financial Products

WASHINGTON — The Office of the Comptroller of the Currency announced today that it has entered into a Formal Agreement with Bank of America, N.A., Charlotte, North Carolina, related to the bank's participation in a bid-rigging scheme involving the marketing and sale of certain financial products to municipalities and other non-profit organizations, variously, during the period November 1998 through January 2004.

The Formal Agreement requires the bank to enhance and strengthen its policies, procedures and internal controls regarding competitive bidding in the particular department where the illegal conduct occurred, and to take steps to ensure that adequate policies, procedures and controls are in place related to competitive bidding on an enterprise wide basis.  The Formal Agreement also requires the bank to make payment of profits, plus prejudgment interest, derived from 38 collateralized certificate of deposit transactions to the municipalities or other non-profits harmed in those transactions.  The total payment, including interest, is $9,217,218.

The OCC's formal enforcement action against the bank is part of a global resolution of actions coordinated with the U.S. Department of Justice, U.S. Internal Revenue Service, U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, the Federal Reserve Bank of Richmond and several State Attorneys General.

A copy of the OCC's enforcement action is attached.

Related Link

• Formal Agreement (PDF)