A former employee of a bank in Southfield, Mich., was barred from future work in any federally insured financial institution and ordered to pay a $50,000 civil money penalty, according to a consent order released Thursday.
The Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC) said Stephen Adams, former senior vice president and managing director of residential lending at Sterling Bank and Trust, FSB, failed “to appropriately supervise, investigate, and discipline employees originating residential mortgage loans” issued under a low-document residential loan program (the Advantage Loan Program) that “presented high risks for fraud, money laundering, and lending misconduct and therefore required strong monitoring and controls.”
It said Adams, in his most recent position at the bank, had direct oversight of employees in California that originated program loans but failed to appropriately “supervise, investigate, and discipline bank employees, or adequately escalate the concerns to the bank’s board, senior officers, or legal counsel.” It says Adams’ conduct contributed to the bank’s violation of the “ability to repay” provision of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau’s (CFPB) TILA-RESPA (Truth in Lending Act/Real Estate Settlement Procedures Act) rule.
Among other orders listed Thursday were four cease-and-desist orders, another civil money penalty (announced in January), six prohibitions, a formal agreement and a couple terminations of previous orders.