FCC Flash

18 Sep

On September 15, 2023, Bancrédito International Bank and Trust Corporation (Bancrédito), headquartered in San Juan, Puerto Rico, incurred a $15 million Civil Money Penalty from the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN) due to willful violations of the Bank Secrecy Act (BSA) and its implementing regulations.

Between October 2015 and May 2022, Bancrédito committed several violations, including:

  • Failure to timely report suspicious transactions to FinCEN.
  • Failure to establish a due diligence program for correspondent accounts held in the United States for foreign financial institutions.
  • Failure to implement and maintain an Anti-Money Laundering (AML) program, including non-compliance with the “Gap Rule” effective from March 15, 2021.
  • Non-compliance with Suspicious Activity Report (SAR) reporting obligations, including disregarding violations cited by its primary regulator.
  • Allowing an unrestricted flow of funds through international correspondent accounts, posing risks to the U.S. financial system.

These violations pertained to processing suspicious transactions and a failure to adhere to AML and due diligence requirements. In response to these breaches, Bancrédito has committed to surrendering its IBE license and refraining from seeking new banking licenses. The determination of compliance will be at the discretion of FinCEN. Additionally, Bancrédito must preserve BSA-related records for at least five years, ensuring access for FinCEN, law enforcement, and regulators, subject to legal privileges. FinCEN retains the discretion to assess compliance with these requirements.