C&D order against U.S branches of Japanese bank

The OCC has announced it has issued a consent cease and desist order against the New York, Chicago, and Los Angeles federal branches of MUFG Bank, Ltd., Tokyo, Japan, for violating the Bank Secrecy Act and its underlying regulations. After a thorough full-scope examination of the branches’ AML and OFAC compliance programs, the OCC found the branches’ BSA compliance program had deficiencies, dating back to June 2016. The examination identified deficiencies in the branches’ internal controls, suspicious activity monitoring, foreign correspondent due diligence program, trade finance monitoring, independent audit, and BSA officer staffing functions.

The MUFG branches continue to operate under an OCC consent order issued in November 2017 requiring corrective actions to improve their OFAC compliance programs.