7 bank directors fined for failure to follow through on agency orders

Six directors and one former director of a San Francisco bank were each fined $10,000 each – for a total of $70,000 – for failing to follow through on the requirements of a 2015 written order, the national regulator of banks said Thursday.

In a report of its June and early July enforcement actions, the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC) said the seven leaders of the Mission National Bank in San Francisco failed to take actions mandated by a Supervisory Condition Imposed in Writing (“SCIW”) issued to the bank on Jan. 23, 2015. The SCIW required the bank’s board to submit an acceptable strategic plan to the OCC for no supervisory objection on at least an annual basis.

However, OCC said, from July 25, 2018, to now, the board members failed to ensure the bank submitted an acceptable strategic plan to the OCC as required by the SCIW. “Due to the Board’s failure to submit an acceptable strategic plan, the Bank has been in violation of the SCIW since July 25, 2018,” OCC said.

In addition, OCC said, the board members have also failed to address a 2020 consent order from the agency requiring the bank to address Bank Secrecy Act/anti-money laundering (BSA/AML) deficiencies and oversight by the board. The agency said the board members “failed to ensure the Bank achieved compliance with the 2020 CO,” adding that the bank is in violation of multiple Articles of the 2020 CO.

The OCC said the board members fined (at $10,000 each) are: Cesar Algeria, William Chan, David Choi, Joann Loughlin, Julio Prada, Alma Vivar, and Ruell Medina (a former director).

OCC Enforcement Actions and Terminations