OCC Censures Union Bank with $15M Fine

California-based MUFG Union Bank has been fined $15 million by the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC) over a series of failures to fulfill fee waivers and apply discounts.

According to a regulatory notice from the OCC, MUFG Union Bank offered discounts and waivers on certain fees linked to its private bank, safe deposit box, and depository services. However, the OCC found that the bank did not apply these as it had promised.

“These incidents were caused by one or more weaknesses in the design or execution of procedures and internal controls within the bank,” the OCC stated. This amounted to “deceptive practices” that were “part of a pattern of misconduct and resulted in a pecuniary gain to the bank”, the regulator added.

The issues were self-identified by the bank and reported to regulators, with customers having been reimbursed.

Although the issues have been resolved, the OCC levied a $15 million civil money penalty on MUFG Union Bank.

MUFG Americas sold Union Bank to US Bancorp last year, with the deal closing in December after the sale of part of Union Bank’s branch network.

MUFG Americas declined to comment.

A spokesperson for US Bank said: “The matters included in the consent order were self-identified by Union Bank and pre-date US Bancorp’s acquisition of Union Bank. The impacted customers and accounts were remediated by Union Bank. We look forward to serving the needs of all our customers now that we have successfully converted Union Bank customers to US Bank.”