Davis Polk partner Dan Stipano was quoted in Law360 on the OCC’s revised staff manual and policy changes, which could give the agency more leeway to seek bigger fines against larger banks and potentially increase the future use of restrictions on banks’ business activities as a complementary sanction in enforcement actions. The new changes include expansions to the staff manual’s bank penalty matrix and increases many of the associated penalty amounts. “These increased penalty ranges appear to apply across the board,” Dan noted. “This underscores the likelihood that OCC will assess larger penalties against institutions in future cases.”

Dan added that the increase in penalties may be somewhat offset by other changes to the OCC’s bank penalty matrix scoring system. The revised manual also states that the OCC will consider pairing bank fines with business restrictions when appropriate. “By explicitly referencing it in the policy, the OCC appears to be signaling its intention to use business restrictions and other forms of affirmative relief more aggressively than it has in the past,” Dan explained.

“New OCC Policy On Fines Tweaks Enforcement Carrots, Sticks,” Law360 (November 29, 2022) (subscription required)

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