Treasury’s Financial Crimes Enforcement Network said the bank admitted it had failed to maintain effective controls in a check-cashing business.
The Treasury Department on Friday said it fined Capital One Financial Corp. for “willfully failing to implement and maintain” effective anti-money-laundering controls. As part of the settlement, Capital One admitted that it “willfully failed to file thousands of suspicious-activity reports,” according to the Treasury’s Financial Crimes Enforcement Network. The allegations pertain to a check-cashing group that Capital One acquired when it bought North Fork Bank in 2006.
FinCEN said it had assessed a $390 million penalty but that it agreed to give Capital One credit for a $100 million penalty it paid to the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency in 2018. The OCC is an independent branch of the Treasury.
Capital One also acknowledged that its actions violated the Bank Secrecy Act. Financial institutions are required to work with the government to detect and prevent money laundering.
The allegations cover practices between at least 2008 and 2014, the same year Capital One exited the check-cashing business.
Capital One Fined for Anti-Money-Laundering Deficiencies
https://www.wsj.com/articles/SB114221481934396231
