Fed faults Wyoming bank IT exec over document sharing

Dive Brief:

The Federal Reserve has issued a cease-and-desist order to a former employee of the Bank of Jackson Hole, in Jackson, Wyoming, whom the Fed says accessed and copied thousands of electronic documents, including those containing confidential supervisory information.
Lindsay Graves, while employed as an information technology manager at the bank between 2015 and 2019, made copies of some 50,000 electronic documents at a former employee’s request and provided the documents to him and his attorney, the Fed said in the order, released Thursday.
The order stipulates that Graves provide the leadership of any bank or bank holding company where she might work in the future — or her current bank employer, if she’s employed — with a copy of the Fed’s order. Graves also must inform the Fed if she has accepted a position elsewhere.

Dive Insight:

Graves, who oversaw the bank’s IT department, did not admit or deny the Fed’s allegations in consenting to the order. An attorney representing her didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment.

The order, dated Sept. 30, didn’t detail the type of information, or identify the former employee with whom it was shared.

The Fed in January issued an enforcement action against Bank of Jackson Hole’s former CFO, John Freeze, charging him with receiving some 280,000 documents, some of which contained confidential supervisory information, not long after he was fired in 2019.

Freeze was prohibited from working for any bank or bank holding company in the future. He has sued the bank, alleging wrongful termination, among other things, the Jackson Hole News & Guide has reported.

Graves must comply with all laws, policies and procedures at any new or current position, refrain from engaging in unsound or unsafe practices, and follow her fiduciary duties, according to the order.

In addition to making the Fed aware of her acceptance of a new role and sharing the order with her prospective employer, Graves must provide the Fed with a written certification of her compliance with the order’s requirements within 10 days of either accepting a new job or the order’s issuance. The order also requires that she “fully familiarize herself” with policies and procedures related to accessing and handling confidential information.

A LinkedIn profile suggests that Graves works as a vice president and director of information technology at Jackson, Wyoming-based Rocky Mountain Bank.