The New York branch of Swiss bank Credit Suisse reached a deal with the Treasury Department’s Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC) over compliance with its Bank Secrecy Act and anti-money laundering (BSA/AML) obligations.

In late May, the OCC took over supervisory authority of the branch from the New York State Department of Financial Services (NYDFS) after the bank’s application to convert to a federal branch was approved, according to a written agreement between the agency and bank.

In December 2020, while still registered in New York, the branch agreed to certain compliance undertakings with the Federal Reserve Board of Governors and NYDFS to shore up its BSA/AML compliance program.

The OCC, however, approved Credit Suisse AG New York Branch on the basis that it complied with provisions substantially the same as those in the December 2020 agreement.

Compliance considerations: Within 30 days, the branch must appoint a compliance committee consisting of at least three members of senior branch or bank management.

Within 10 days, submit a BSA/AML action plan including corrective action to be taken to achieve compliance and an oversight plan.

Other undertakings include creating programs on customer due diligence, risk identification, the timely filing of suspicious activity reports, and BSA/AML independent testing.

UBS, which completed its merger with Credit Suisse last month, could not be reached for comment.

Jeff Dale is Managing Editor, Editorial Projects and Analytics, at Compliance Week. He previously served as Compliance Week's Digital Editor and has worked as a copy editor at the Boston Herald and city editor at The Hour Publishing Co. in Norwalk, Conn.View full Profile

More from Jeff Dale

Topics