OCC Assesses a $350 Million Civil Money Penalty Against JPMorgan Chase for Bank Secrecy Act Violations

WASHINGTON — The Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC) today announced a $350 million civil money penalty against JPMorgan Chase, N.A.; JPMorgan Bank and Trust Company, N.A.; and Chase Bank USA, N.A., for Bank Secrecy Act (BSA) violations.

The penalty follows a January 2013 cease and desist order in which the OCC directed the three affiliated banks to correct deficiencies in their compliance programs.

The OCC found critical and widespread deficiencies in the banks’ BSA and anti-money laundering (AML) compliance programs with respect to suspicious activity reporting, monitoring of transactions for suspicious activity, the conduct of customer due diligence and risk assessments, and internal controls and independent testing.  

The penalty is based in part on JPMorgan Chase’s failure to report suspicions about Bernard L. Madoff Investment Securities, LLC, to U.S. law enforcement and regulators, despite having alerted United Kingdom authorities in the months prior to Mr. Madoff’s arrest.  The banks also failed to detect and report other cases of suspicious activity.  Since issuing the January 2013 cease and desist order, the OCC continues to monitor progress that JPMorgan Chase has made to correct weaknesses identified by the agency as well as their ongoing work and commitment to remedy the remaining deficiencies. We will continue our oversight efforts and take further action as warranted.

Concurrent with the OCC’s enforcement action, JPMorgan Chase entered into a deferred prosecution agreement with the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Southern District of New York and agreed to forfeit $1.7 billion to the United States.  Also concurrent with the OCC’s enforcement action, the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network assessed a $461 million civil money penalty that is deemed satisfied by the forfeiture to the U.S. government.

Related Link

• Civil Money Penalty (PDF)