AnchorBank in Madison, Wis., has signed a cease-and-desist order with the Office of Thrift Supervision concerning its compliance with the Bank Secrecy Act.
The order, announced Friday by the $3.8 billion-asset thrift's parent, Anchor BanCorp Wisconsin Inc., instructed AnchorBank to strengthen its compliance procedures and policies and to develop an anti-laundering program.
The OTS also told it to improve its employee training on filing suspicious activity reports.
The parent said it was actively addressing these problems and has already taken a number of actions outlined in the enforcement order.
Operating costs will increase in the next quarter because of the enhanced compliance procedures, Anchor BanCorp said, though it would not say by how much.
The order is based on an OTS review from May, just a few weeks after lawmakers urged regulators to step up their money-laundering examinations. That request was in response to an announcement from the $6.3 billion-asset Riggs National Corp. of Washington that it expected to be fined for repeated violations of the Bank Secrecy Act.
