Citibank Fined $136 Million Over Unresolved Data Issues

US bank regulators have imposed a $136 million fine on Citibank due to its “insufficient progress”  in addressing data management issues that were first identified in 2020.

The Federal Reserve and Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC) have taken joint enforcement action against Citibank for its failure to improve processes aimed at monitoring the effects of data quality concerns on regulatory reporting.

The regulators have also mandated that the bank demonstrates it is allocating sufficient resources towards enhancing data management.

As a result, the Federal Reserve will continue to monitor Citibank’s actions to comply with the ruling.

Michael Hsu, acting comptroller of the currency, said:  “Citibank must see through its transformation and fully address in a timely manner its longstanding deficiencies.

“While the bank’s board and management have made meaningful progress overall, including taking necessary steps to simplify the bank, certain persistent weaknesses remain, in particular with regard to data.”

The regulators previously fined Citibank $400 million in 2020 following the identification of “ongoing deficiencies”  in the management of various areas of risk management and internal control, including data quality management.

Even though the bank agreed to implement a comprehensive plan to address its data issues, an exam from the Federal Reserve last year revealed the lender still had deficiencies and had not made adequate progress.

Jane Fraser, CEO of Citigroup, said: "We have acknowledged that, despite making good progress in simplifying our firm and addressing our Consent Orders, there are areas where we have not made progress quickly enough, such as in our data quality management.”