通貨監督庁(OCC)がマネーロンダリング防止体制でJPモルガンを行政処分へ

米規制当局、ＪＰモルガンを行政処分へ　ＷＳＪ
source : 2012.11.15 Reuters.co.jp (ボタンクリックで引用記事が開閉)

米紙ウォールストリート・ジャーナル（ＷＳＪ）は関係筋を引用し、米当局が米大手銀行ＪＰモルガン・チェース(JPM.N: 株価, 企業情報, レポート)の内部のマネーロンダリング（資金洗浄）防止体制に問題があるとして、同行に対する行政処分を下す見通しだと報じた。

記事によると、通貨監督庁（ＯＣＣ）では国内の大手行に対する幅広い取り締まりの一環としてＪＰモルガンに停止命令を出し、マネーロンダリング防止システムの強化と過去の取引の精査を要請する見込み。

また、最高投資戦略室（ＣＩＯ）部門が行ったデリバティブ取引で数十億ドルの損失が出たことにからみ、社内のリスク管理が適正だったかや、エネルギー部門がカリフォルニア州などで電力市場価格を操作したとの疑惑の真偽なども調査する。

ＯＣＣのトーマス・カリー長官はＷＳＪに対し、ＪＰモルガンへの停止命令に関するコメントを控えたが、「規制当局が職務を果たしていることを国民に示すことは重要だ」として、ＯＣＣが必要と判断すればいかなる大手銀行に対しても措置を講じることにためらいはないと語った。

米国の通常営業時間外に当たることから、ロイターでは今のところＪＰモルガンとＯＣＣのコメントは得られていない。

New J.P. Morgan Jam
Bank Faces U.S. Action on Antimoney-Laundering Practices
source : 2012.11.16 The Wall Street Journal (ボタンクリックで引用記事が開閉)

Regulators are expected to serve J.P. Morgan Chase & Co. with a formal action alleging weaknesses in the bank's antimoney-laundering systems, said people close to the situation.

The cease-and-desist order from the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency is part of a broader crackdown on the nation's largest banks, the people said. The OCC is expected to require J.P. Morgan to beef up its procedures and examine past transactions, these people said.

The order would be the latest legal challenge to the nation's largest bank, which is facing scrutiny on multiple fronts. Investigators and regulators are examining risk controls surrounding a trading fiasco within the New York company's Chief Investment Office, whether a J.P. Morgan energy unit manipulated trading markets in California and how the bank's Bear Stearns unit packaged and sold home loans to investors before the financial crisis.

The expected action highlights the heightened interest among regulators, law-enforcement agencies and legislators in battling money-laundering. State and federal officials have been building prominent cases in recent months against banks, including Standard Chartered PLC and HSBC Holdings PLC.

Regulators recently warned J.P. Morgan and other large banks that they should expect more public-enforcement actions and fines for alleged violations of money-laundering procedures or other rules that prohibit practices considered unfair or deceptive to consumers, according to banking industry officials. The OCC's message was delivered last Thursday and Friday to directors and executives from more than a dozen institutions.

U.S. banks are obligated under the Bank Secrecy Act to report to federal authorities any suspicious activity or cash transactions of more than $10,000. Banks also must have elaborate systems designed to detect criminal activity within their networks. Failure to comply can lead to penalties or prosecution.

The OCC's expected action against J.P. Morgan likely will mirror the one it took in April against Citigroup Inc. The OCC, part of the Treasury Department, ordered Citigroup to improve its antimoney-laundering procedures after the company reported lapses at its deposit-taking bank. No fines were given, but the OCC told Citigroup to upgrade its transaction-monitoring procedures and enhance internal audits.

In 2010, HSBC's North American unit was ordered to improve risk-management and compliance with money-laundering laws after an investigation found subpar procedures.

The unusually blunt tone of the OCC's meetings with large banks on Nov. 8-9 spread quickly among bank executives. Some viewed the meeting as an attempt by the OCC to counter the perception that it had been too cozy with the banking industry and to step out of the shadows of the year-old Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, which has been aggressive about publicizing enforcement actions and fines levied on banks.

"It was a spanking," said one senior bank executive who didn't attend the meeting but heard about it from colleagues. "The message was, 'You are living in a world of zero tolerance,'" said another bank executive briefed on the meeting.

OCC Director Thomas Curry said in an interview Thursday that a zero-tolerance assessment was "too harsh," but he acknowledged "a change in tone" compared with the prefinancial-crisis period. "Passable is not acceptable," he said. He said he expects to see progress "in a relatively short period of time."

J.P. Morgan hinted at this more-aggressive tack in a Nov. 8 filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission, saying it "expects heightened scrutiny by its regulators of its compliance with new and existing regulations," and that it will "more frequently be the subject of more formal enforcement actions, rather than informal supervisory actions or criticism."

The bank in recent months has been in talks with the OCC over terms of the action. It likely will include a review of past transactions, said one person close to J.P. Morgan. The bank has discussed with the OCC the time period involved in the review.

Mr. Curry declined to comment on the cease-and-desist order but said the OCC wouldn't hesitate if it concludes that a public action is warranted for any big bank. "It's important for the public to know that regulators are doing their job," he said.