BancorpSouth Hit with Consent Order for BSA, Patriot Act Issues

BancorpSouth in Tupelo, Miss., has been hit with a consent order tied to compliance weaknesses tied to the Bank Secrecy Act and the Patriot Act.

The $13 billion-asset company disclosed in a regulatory filing late Thursday that it had entered into a consent order with the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. and the Mississippi Department of Banking and Consumer Finance. The company said it did not admit or deny any of the charges, which also included claims of unsafe or unsound banking practices.

BancorpSouth was required to create a board subcommittee to ensure compliance with the order, which did not include a civil money penalty. The company must also assess personnel needs in its BSA department, hire a BSA officer, develop a plan to strengthen its internal controls and create a training program tied to BSA compliance.

BancorpSouth also agreed to develop and implement a plan to analyze certain deposit account and transaction activity to determine if any suspicious activity was identified and reported. The company will also revise its BSA and anti-money laundering program to more fully identify and characterize risks tied to the BSA and Patriot Act.

BancorpSouth disclosed last month that it had withdrawn applications for two planned acquisitions after it drew regulatory scrutiny for its Bank Secrecy Act compliance. The Federal Reserve Board had informed BancorpSouth that it would not review the applications until the company addressed the FDIC's issues. The company said in a regulatory filing that it expects to eventually refile applications to buy Ouachita Bancshares in Monroe, La., and Central Community Corp. in Temple, Texas.