Citigroup fined $136 million for compliance failures
US regulators have fined Citigroup $136m for failing to make adequate progress in complying with an agreement reached in 2020.
The Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC) and the Federal Reserve said in a joint statement that Citigroup had failed to correct a number of long-standing deficiencies in its compliance risk management program.
The consent order, which was signed in October 2020, required Citigroup to take a number of steps to improve its compliance program, including:
- Conducting a comprehensive risk assessment
- Developing and implementing a new compliance risk management framework
- Hiring additional compliance staff
- Improving its training and oversight programs
The OCC and the Fed said that Citigroup had failed to make meaningful progress on a number of these requirements.
The regulators also said that Citigroup had failed to adequately address a number of compliance issues that had been identified during their examinations.
These issues included:
- Deficiencies in the bank’s anti-money laundering program
- Failures to comply with sanctions laws
- Inadequate oversight of third-party vendors
The OCC and the Fed said that the $136m penalty was appropriate given the severity and pervasiveness of Citigroup’s compliance failures.
The regulators also said that they would continue to monitor Citigroup’s progress in complying with the consent order.
Citigroup said in a statement that it was disappointed with the regulators’ findings.
We have made significant investments in our compliance program and we are confident that we are making progress, the bank said.
We are committed to working with our regulators to address their concerns and to continue to improve our compliance program.
The fine is the latest in a series of enforcement actions that have been taken against Citigroup in recent years.
In 2014, the bank was fined $7 billion for its role in the 2008 financial crisis.
In 2017, the bank was fined $400 million for its role in a money laundering scandal.
And in 2018, the bank was fined $100 million for its role in a foreign exchange trading scandal.
Kind regards N. Bauer.
