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OCC Bulletin 1998-32 | July 24, 1998
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Chief Executive Officers and Compliance Officers of all National Banks, Department and Division Heads, and all Examining Personnel
The guidance attached to this bulletin continues to apply to federal savings associations.
Attached is a copy of the "Interagency Policy Regarding The Assessment of Civil Money Penalties" that the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC) has adopted. The revised policy statement specifies factors that the federal financial institutions regulatory agencies should take into consideration in deciding whether, and in what amounts, civil money penalty assessment proceedings should be initiated. The policy is effective immediately.
The revised policy statement supersedes the 1980 "Interagency Policy Regarding the Assessment of Civil Money Penalties" by the federal financial institutions regulatory agencies. The revised policy statement does not affect the OCC's civil money penalty issuance in the OCC's Policies and Procedures Manual (PPM-5000-7).
The Federal Financial Institutions Examination Council (FFIEC) Task Force on Supervision, acting under delegated authority, has recommended that the OCC, the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System, the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation, the Office of Thrift Supervision, and the National Credit Union Administration, adopt the revised policy statement. The revised policy statement:
(1) Specifies the factors that the agencies should take into consideration in deciding whether, and in what amounts, to initiate civil money penalty proceedings;
(2) Eliminates references to interagency coordination of civil money penalty proceedings, because such coordination is addressed in a separate interagency policy (FFIEC, Revised Policy Statement on "Interagency Coordination of Formal Corrective Action by the Federal Bank Regulatory Agencies");
(3) Eliminates references to the statutes authorizing the agencies to initiate civil money penalty proceedings or the authority pursuant to the statutes;
(4) Eliminates references to the agencies' rules of practice and procedure for civil money penalty proceedings; and
(5) Specifies that the amount of a civil money penalty may be greater than the economic gain in order to deter future misconduct.
Leann G. Britton Senior Deputy Comptroller for Bank Supervision Operations
