WaFd Bank pays $2.5 million anti-money-laundering fine

WaFd Bank in Seattle has agreed to pay a $2.5 million penalty as part of a consent order it signed in 2018 with the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency over alleged anti-money-laundering problems.

The $19.6 billion-asset bank, a unit of Washington Federal, said in a press release Thursday that it viewed the fine as a “milestone” toward resolving the more than 3-year-old issue.

“WaFd Bank is committed to building and maintaining an effective [anti-money-laundering and Bank Secrecy Act] program and appreciates the opportunity to continue working with the OCC to achieve that goal,” WaFd Bank President and CEO Brent Beardall said in the release.

Washington Federal had to terminate its agreement at the time to buy Anchor Bancorp in Lacey, Washington, because of the problems found in its anti-money-laundering program. The company had pledged to avoid making any major acquisitions until the issues were fixed.

Beardall said during the company’s annual meeting in January that he believed the bank had addressed each of the 10 specific items flagged in the OCC consent order.

The agency checks WaFd’s system every six months, he said at the time.

“It is up to the OCC to come in and make the determination of, one, have the items been corrected; and two, is a process mature enough to ensure that we'll perform consistently into the future,” Beardall said at the meeting.