TCF Bank Released from BSA Enforcement Order

More than 10 months after agreeing to pay a $10 million penalty to its regulator, TCF Financial (TCB) has officially been released from an enforcement order related to its monitoring of suspicious transactions.

The Wayzata, Minn., company said in a news release Monday that the Officer of the Comptroller of the Currency has lifted the order following a review of its Bank Secrecy Act compliance program. The $18.4 billion-asset TCF had been operating under the order since early 2010 after an OCC examination had found that it failed to file reports on more than $7 million of suspicious transactions over a nearly two-year period.

Its release from the order follows TCF’s announcement in January that it would pay the OCC $10 million to settle the probe and take a series of steps to strengthen its anti-money laundering controls.       

“TCF has made significant investments to create a best-in-class BSA program and we now have improved systems, training and processes to detect and report potential financial crimes,” William A. Cooper, TCF’s chairman and chief executive officer, said in Monday’s release. “We will continue to work with law enforcement to protect the public interest and partner with the OCC to enhance the safety and security of the banking system.”

In a research note late Monday, analysts at Sandler O’Neill & Co. suggested that the order had been a drag on TCF’s earnings in recent years and said that its removal should give the company “more flexibility to pursue its goals.”

Sandler raised its price target on TCF’s stock to $16. Its shares closed at $15.77 Monday, up 0.6% from Friday’s close.

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