Compliance
DoJ Fines Dutch Lender $368 Million For Processing Dirty Cash

The bank also pleaded guilty to conspiring to block regulatory oversight.
Rabobank, a
California unit of the Dutch cooperative lender, has agreed to
pay over $368 million to settle charges it processed illicit
funds and pleaded guilty to conspiring to obstruct regulatory
oversight.
The bank, which offers wealth management services, allowed
hundreds of millions in untraceable cash from Mexico and
elsewhere to be deposited into its California branches. Then, it
transferred without adequate monitoring and reporting of
suspicious transactions to federal regulators, the US Department
of Justice (DoJ) said in a statement.
Separately, the US Office of the Comptroller of the Currency
(OCC), the bank’s primary regulator, has imposed a $50 million
civil penalty over lapses in its Bank Secrecy Act and anti-money
laundering compliance policies. It said, however, that the
penalty would be credited toward Rabobank’s DoJ fine.
“Settling these matters is important for the bank’s mission here
in California,” Mark Borrecco, chief executive of Rabobank North
America, said in the statement. He also said the bank had
enhanced internal controls and risk management.
Rabobank decided to “look the other way” when it learned the
transactions were likely tied to drug trafficking, organized
crime and money laundering, acting assistant US attorney general
John Cronan said.
Three bank executives then tried to obstruct a 2012 OCC probe to
avoid sanctions imposed for similar failures in 2006 and 2008,
the statement said, and the bank provided false and misleading
information in response to a 2013 report by the regulator.
Rabobank’s guilty plea took place in the US District Court in San
Diego. It pleaded guilty to a conspiracy charge for impeding the
OCC and obstructing its examination.