An enforcement action initiated in 2015 for “deficiencies relating to compliance” with anti-money laundering requirements has been terminated (as of July 18) against East West Bank, of Pasadena, Calif., the Federal Reserve said Tuesday.
The state-chartered, Fed member bank ($37.6 billion in assets) agreed to the enforcement action nearly three years ago, which was aimed at correcting shortcomings in the bank’s compliance with anti-money laundering (AML) requirements, including compliance with the Bank Secrecy Act (BSA).
In the November 2015 action, the Fed noted that the bank maintained a foreign branch in Hong Kong and had various foreign subsidiaries, including representative offices and an international banking subsidiary in Shanghai, China, and various domestic subsidiaries.
The Fed said in 2015 that the bank’s examinations by the Federal Reserve and the California Department of Business Oversight (DBO) Division of Financial Institutions identified the AML/BSA deficiencies.
Under the AML/BSA compliance plan agreed to by the bank, East West was required to address the compliance deficiencies by (among other things): strengthening the board’s oversight; developing and adopting a BSA/AML compliance program; developing and adopting “appropriate levels of customer due diligence”; and ensuring “the identification and timely, accurate, and complete reporting by the Bank of all known or suspected violations of law or suspicious transactions to law enforcement and supervisory authorities.”
The termination of the enforcement action indicates the bank met the requirements agreed to with the Fed.
Federal Reserve Board issues termination of enforcement action with East West Bank