Federal regulators are now often looking past CEOs and general counsel and taking aim at compliance officers personally.

In the latest incident, the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network on March 4 assessed a $450,000 civil penalty against Michael LaFontaine, former chief operational risk officer at U.S. Bank in the Minneapolis area. It is believed to be the first time the regulator has personally penalized a bank compliance officer for his role in anti-money laundering failures.

The Department of Justice had already reached a deferred prosecution agreement with the bank's parent company, U.S. Bancorp, in a $613 million settlement in 2018. The agreement said U.S. Bank "willfully fail[ed] to have an adequate anti-money laundering program."