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The FDIC has released a list of administrative enforcement actions taken against banks in April 2019. The agency imposed:

• an $18,812 civil money penalty on Bank of Bluffs, Bluffs, Illinois, for violations of the Flood Disaster Protection Act (FDPA) and/or the notice requirements under the National Flood Insurance Act (NFIA)
• a $17,700 civil money penalty on Firstbank Puerto Rico, Santurce, Puerto Rico, for violations of the FDPA
• a $3,520 civil money penalty on Allegiance Bank, Houston, Texas, for violations of the FDPA
• a $1,250,000 civil money penalty on Alma Bank, Astoria, New York, for violation of the Bank Secrecy Act and its implementing regulations

Also reported were removal/prohibition orders issued to:

• a former director of human resources of a Texas bank who knowingly and without authority took salary increases and bonuses for himself
• a former loan secretary of a Texas bank who misappropriated more than $200,000 in bank proceeds
• a former teller of a California bank who embezzled and/or stole funds from a bank customer's account

The Federal Trade Commission has filed an amended complaint in a case alleging a multi-national scheme to defraud consumers via deceptive “free trial” offers and negative-option continuity plans. The amended complaint names a Latvian financial institution and its CEO as additional defendants, alleging they participated in the scheme by processing $40 million in consumer payments. The amended complaint alleges that the newly added defendants engaged in credit card laundering by approving and maintaining merchant accounts in the name of shell companies with straw owners, and that they manipulated chargeback levels in those merchant accounts to evade credit card chargeback monitoring programs.

OFAC has released its twenty-seventh annual report to Congress on assets in the United States relating to terrorist countries and organizations engaged in international terrorism.

The OCC yesterday issued a proclamation allowing national banks, federal savings associations, and federal branches and agencies of foreign banks affected by severe flooding in the South Central United States to close. The OCC expects that only those bank offices directly affected by potentially unsafe conditions will close. Those offices should make every effort to reopen as quickly as possible to address the banking needs of their customers.

OFAC announced Tuesday it has issued a Finding of Violation to State Street Bank and Trust Company for violations of the Iranian Transactions and Sanctions Regulations. OFAC found that, between January 1, 2012 and September 1, 2015, the bank, acting as trustee for a customer’s employee retirement plan, processed at least 45 pension payments totaling $11,365.44 to a plan participant who was a U.S. citizen with a U.S. bank account, but who resided in Iran. This matter was voluntarily self-disclosed to OFAC. There is no monetary penalty associated with a Finding of Violation.

FinCEN has announced an Innovation Hours Program to better shape and inform its ongoing engagement with Anti-Money Laundering (AML)/Countering the Financing of Terrorism (CFT) innovators. The Innovation Hours Program will provide financial technology and regulatory technology companies and financial institutions the opportunity to present their new and emerging innovative products and services to FinCEN. Technology demonstrations should highlight how these innovations work and how financial institutions might use them. FinCEN expects to hold events in the Washington D.C. metro area, as well as some regional events that focus on financial services-related innovation.

UPDATE: FinCEN published [84 FR 25120] a notice that the program will become effective on May 30, 2019, inviting meeting requests, which can be submitted via the Innovation Initiative webpage.

The OCC will host two workshops at the Embassy Suites Denver - Stapleton in Denver, June 25-26, for directors of institutions supervised by the OCC.

• The Risk Governance: Improving Director Effectiveness workshop on June 25 combines lectures, discussion, and exercises to provide practical information for directors to effectively measure and manage risks. The workshop also focuses on the OCC’s approach to risk-based supervision and major risks in the financial industry.
• The Credit Risk: Directors Can Make a Difference workshop on June 26 focuses on credit risk within the loan portfolio, such as identifying trends and recognizing problems. The workshop also covers the roles of the board and management, how to stay informed of changes in credit risk, and how to effect change.

The Securities and Exchange Commission, the North American Securities Administrators Association (NASAA), and the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA) have issued a fact sheet to help raise awareness among broker-dealers, investment advisers, and transfer agents of the Senior Safe Act and how the Act’s immunity provisions work. The SEC's Seniors webpage provides information on the immunity and training provisions of the Act, as well as additional resources from the SEC, NASAA, and FINRA.

The Federal Trade Commission will mail 305 checks totaling $314,945 to consumers who paid up-front for worthless credit card interest rate reduction programs pitched by Payless Solutions using illegal robocalls. The complaint filed by the FTC and Florida Office of Attorney General, the Orlando-based defendants illegally called thousands of consumers nationwide—including many seniors—and claimed their program would save them at least $2,500 and enable them to pay off their debts more quickly. After convincing consumers to provide their credit card information, the defendants then charged between $300 and $4,999 up-front for their worthless service. The agencies also alleged that in some cases the defendants illegally charged consumers without their consent. The FTC is providing full refunds, which average more than $1,000 each, to consumers who lost money, as identified by the defendants’ records or by complaints the consumers filed with the FTC or any agency that submits complaints to the FTC’s Consumer Sentinel Network.

OFAC has identified the Argentina-based Goldpharma Drug Trafficking and Money Laundering Organization as a significant foreign narcotics trafficker under the Foreign Narcotics Kingpin Designation Act. OFAC also designated eight Argentine nationals for their role in the Goldpharma DTO/MLO, as well as nine entities located in Argentina, Colombia, Canada, the United States, the United Kingdom, and the Netherlands. A Kingpin Act chart on the designated individuals was also published.

For identification information on the designated individuals and entities, see BankersOnline's OFAC Update, and note that there are several U.S. (Delaware, Florida, and Texas) addresses involved.