The Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN), USA has levied a penalty of $390 million on Capital One, National Association (Capital One) for both willful and negligent breaches of the Bank Secrecy Act and its implementing regulations.
Capital One willfully failed to execute and maintain an effective AML framework. It also willfully failed to file thousands of suspicious activity reports (SARs), and negligently failed to file over 50,000 Currency Transaction Reports (CTRs). These violations were particularly linked with the business unit called the Check Cashing Group. As a result, between 2008-14, Capital One did not appropriately or timely report millions of dollars in suspicious transactions. This amount includes illegal money linked with fraud, tax evasion, organized crime and other financial crimes.
While deciding upon the penalty, FinCEN took into account Capital One’s mitigation measures and its cooperation with the investigation. Capital One has exited the Check Cashing Group and worked on improving its SAR and CTR filing systems. It has also invested in the overall improvement of its AML program.
Source: FinCEN