WASHINGTON — A US bank regulator cited Citigroup on Thursday for failing to comply with a federal law that requires banks to establish protections against money-laundering but did not impose a fine.
The Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC) said that Citi’s US banking unit showed deficiencies in its compliance with the bank-secrecy act, which requires banks to report on suspicious activities and maintain other protections against money laundering.
Citi neither admitted nor denied the regulator’s allegations and entered into a consent order with the regulator to fix the problems. Though the regulator did not issue a fine, it still has the right to do so.
The regulator said the bank had numerous weaknesses, including problems identifying and monitoring high-risk customers.
In response, Citi said that the bank has “taken significant steps” in developing plans to manage money-laundering risks.
“Because of these actions, many of the issues highlighted in the OCC’s order have already been remediated or are in the process of being remediated,” the bank said. “Furthermore, we are developing a plan to address the remaining OCC requirements. “