The U.S. Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC) has announced that it will seek a cease and desist order against cryptocurrency custody bank Anchorage Digital for allegedly breaking anti-money laundering regulations.
The OCC said a consent order against Anchorage Digital on Thursday, citing the company’s “failure to adopt and implement a compliance programme” in accordance with mandated BSA and AML criteria.
“The OCC holds all nationally chartered banks to the same high standards, whether they engage in traditional or novel activities,” Michael Hsu, acting comptroller of the currency said.
“When institutions fall short, we will take action and hold them accountable to ensure compliance with federal laws and regulations.”
The government agency stated that such acts violated Anchorage Digital’s operational agreement with the OCC, which was created in January 2021.
Anchorage Digital begins ‘corrective action’
Anchorage neither admits nor denies the comptroller’s findings, but the order states that the bank has “begun corrective action and is committed to taking all necessary and appropriate steps to remedy the deficiencies.”
A consent order implies that two parties — in this case, Anchorage and the OCC — have reached an agreement in principle on how to proceed.
According to the OCC, the bank has 15 days to form a committee for “specific corrective actions” to ensure compliance with AML and BSA regulations, as well as issue progress reports on the plan as it is implemented. The government bureau also ordered Anchorage to have a BSA officer on hand to guarantee compliance.
In January 2021, Anchorage became the first crypto company in the U.S. to be granted a national bank charter by the OCC. Former Acting Comptroller of the Currency Brian Brooks was temporarily the CEO of Binance.US before becoming the CEO of crypto mining business Bitfury after leaving the government bureau.