On August 29, 2022, Blue Ridge Bank (“Bank”), which has $2.8 billion in assets, entered into a formal written agreement with the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (“OCC”) regarding the Bank’s oversight of its fintech partners. The OCC found unsafe and unsound practices relating to Bank oversight of third-party risk, Bank Secrecy Act/Anti-Money Laundering risk management, suspicious activity reporting and information technology control and risk
governance.
The OCC enforcement action agreement requires the Bank to take certain steps to improve third-party oversight and risk management, including the establishment of a majority-independent Compliance Committee, which must be approved by the Assistant Deputy Comptroller. Additionally, the Bank must adopt and implement a written program to assess and manage the risks posed by fintech partnerships, taking into consideration previous OCC guidance on community bank partnerships with fintechs. The Bank must also obtain OCC non-objection prior to onboarding new fintech partners or offering new products or services with existing fintech partners. Read More