United States OCC Issues Cease & Desist Order Against Anchorage Digital

Key Insights:

• Anchorage Digital has been asked to take the necessary steps to remedy the issues.
• The company has 30 days to submit the details of the remedial actions.
• Anchorage Digital used to be a chartered trust company before it became a bank in 2021.

In a news release, The Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC) issued a Cease and Desist Order today against the Anchorage Digital Bank.

The order comes into effect due to the bank’s failure to adopt and implement a compliance program established by the OCC.

OCC Anchors Anchorage

The action was taken since Anchorage did not take on the compliance program that adequately covers the required Bank Secrecy Act/anti-money laundering (BSA/AML) program elements.

Back in January 2021, Anchorage Trust company was granted conditional approval to convert into the Anchorage Digital Bank, National Association by the OCC.

However, the chartered trust company was required to sign an operating agreement with the OCC under which the BSA and AML requirements were set forth as an enforceable condition of approval.

But as mentioned above, the bank’s failure to meet these standards consequentially led to the cease and desist order from the regulatory body.

Iterating on the same, Acting Comptroller of the Currency Michael J. Hsu said,

“The OCC holds all nationally chartered banks to the same high standards, whether they engage in traditional or novel activities. When institutions fall short, we will take action and hold them accountable to ensure compliance with federal laws and regulations.”

Although the bank has committed to fixing the issues identified by the OCC and will be beginning corrective actions soon. For the same, the OCC has given the time of 15 days for Anchorage’s Board to appoint a Compliance Committee.

And within 30 days, the bank must submit a written action plan detailing the remedial actions necessary to comply with the BSA/AML requirements.

OCC Spares No One

Earlier in January, as reported by FXEmpire, OCC finally terminated a 7-year-long consent order against Wells Fargo and Co. after the bank compensated all of its customers harmed by its faulty product marketing and billing practices.

However, the bank is still working on a separate consent order issued by the OCC in 2018 related to its selling of mortgage and auto insurance products.

Commenting on the same, Wells’ Chief Executive Charlie Scharf then said that satisfying the OCC was a ‘multi-year effort’.