FDIC Ends Money Laundering Consent Order With Discover Financial Unit

The Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. has ended a 2014 consent order with Discover Financial Services” banking unit.

According to a report in American Banker the consent order has to do with the programs Discover Bank has in place to fight money laundering. Under the deal Discover’s board agreed to adopt a series of steps that would serve to increase its compliance in that area, reported American Banker. The report noted the consent order was terminated without any conditions. The consent had resulted in a lot of expenses for Discover, with the firm confirming it spent $30 million last year on a anti-money laundering project to comply with the rules. Discover still has another regulatory agreement related to money laundering compliance, noted the report.

The end of the consent order comes as big banks are trying to fight back against stringent money laundering rules. In February, Reuters reported the biggest banks in the U.S. will soon be floating a complete overhaul of the rules governing how financial institutions investigate and report potential criminal activity. The banks are arguing that rules imposed in the years after the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks and strengthened during the Obama administration are not merely expensive and onerous — they also have the distinction of being ineffective. The push for reform represents the first time the Clearing House has publicly advocated for a revamp of the rules — though it has long complained that the rules as written are not useful or terribly productive. The Clearing House is a trade association that represents such major players in banking as JPMorgan Chase & Co, Bank of America and Citigroup. A massive lobbying push is expected to follow the proposed rule change — a push that will likely target bank regulators and members of the Senate and House of Representatives finance committees.