Fed fins Metropolitan Commercial Bank $30 million

Metropolitan Commercial Bank was fined approximately $30 million by the United States Federal Reserve (Fed) and the New York Department of Financial Services for violating customer identification rules.

New York-based Metropolitan Commercial Bank was fined approximately $14.5 million for violations of customer identification standards and flawed third-party risk management practices related to the issuance of prepaid card accounts by of the bank, the Federal Reserve said in a statement.

The statement claims that in 2020, Metropolitan opened prepaid card accounts for illegal actors who then used the accounts to collect illegally obtained state unemployment insurance benefits, adding that the bank used a third-party program manager without having adequate procedures to verify the true identity of each applicant It was emphasized that he violated customer identification rules by opening prepaid card accounts through .

The statement said Metropolitan was asked to improve its customer identification, customer due diligence and third-party risk management programs.

The statement states that the action against Metropolitan was carried out with the New York Department of Financial Services, and that the total fine imposed on the bank by the Federal Reserve and the New York Department of Financial Services was approximately $30 million. of dollars. (AA)