Fed Bans Two Ex-Regions Bankers After Fraud Indictments

The Federal Reserve Board has banned two former Regions Financial executives from the banking industry following their indictment on charges of defrauding the Birmingham, Ala., company.

Richard Henderson and Philip Cooper were indicted by a federal grand jury in September for bank bribery, wire fraud, money laundering and conspiracy. The two bankers' multimillion-dollar conspiracy, which occurred between 2010 and 2015, involved the $124 billion-asset Regions and its Regions Equipment Financing Corp. unit, known as REFCO.

Henderson and Cooper directed REFCO to purchase insurance policies from a shell company, according to the indictment. The shell company then paid kickbacks to Henderson and Cooper. Henderson received about $1.8 million and Cooper about $1.5 million.

The ban on Henderson and Cooper's participation in the banking industry is in effect until the criminal charges are resolved or disposed of, or until the Fed terminates the ban.

"We are evaluating the Fed's decision to see if there are any additional steps we may want to take or not," said Douglas Jones, Henderson's attorney. Jones noted that Henderson retired from banking in 2015.

Cooper's attorney, Jeffrey Doss, was not immediately available for comment on Wednesday.

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Enforcement Law and regulation Commercial lending Alabama
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