Federal Reserve Board Bars Three Former Employees From Banking Industry

The Federal Reserve Board announced on September 18, 2026, the execution of three consent prohibition orders barring former employees of Northstar Bank, American Express (AXP ) Travel Related Services Company, Inc., and Regions Bank from participating in the affairs of insured depository institutions and their holding companies without prior written regulatory approval. The Board’s release was timed for 11:00 a.m. EDT.

The release named Charles Alan Wright, a former employee of Northstar Bank, Bad Axe, Michigan; Stephanie K. Hudders, a former employee of American Express Travel Related Services Company, Inc., New York, New York; and Elvisha White, a former employee of Regions Bank, Birmingham, Alabama. The Board characterized the Wright matter as misappropriation of customer funds, the Hudders matter as misapplication of funds and conflicts of interest, and the White matter as check fraud.

Each attached order is an Order of Prohibition Issued Upon Consent pursuant to section 8(e) of the Federal Deposit Insurance Act, 12 U.S.C. 1818(e). Each order became effective on September 9, 2026, and each was signed for the Board by Michele Taylor Fennell, Associate Secretary of the Board.

The Three Consent Orders

The order against Wright, Docket No. 26-047-E-I, identifies him as a former employee and institution-affiliated party, as defined in sections 3(u) and 8(b)(3) of the FDI Act, of Northstar Bank, a state member bank.

On October 23, 2023, Wright pled guilty in Michigan state court to one count of embezzling over $100,000 and one count of false pretenses for at least $1,000 but less than $20,000, for conduct occurring from 2012 through 2022, according to the order. As part of his plea, Wright admitted that while he was a commercial loan officer at the bank during that period, he fraudulently obtained money from bank customers’ lines of credit and cashed customers’ payment checks on those loans for his personal benefit. On January 8, 2024, Wright was convicted of both offenses, sentenced to imprisonment, and ordered to pay approximately $327,958 in restitution to the bank.

The order states that Wright’s conduct constituted violations of law or regulation, unsafe or unsound practices, or breaches of fiduciary duty, and involved his personal dishonesty or demonstrated his willful or continuing disregard for the bank’s safety and soundness.

The order against Hudders, Docket No. 26-038-E-I, identifies her as a former employee and institution-affiliated party of American Express Travel Related Services Company, Inc. (Amex), a registered bank holding company. Hudders was employed as a Senior Business Development Manager in the Merchant Services Department for the Caribbean Market until her termination on February 22, 2023.

From July 2020 to September 2022, Hudders improperly caused Amex to make at least $165,040 in payments to a third-party external sales agency that was used to recruit new Amex-accepting merchants and that employed a relative, according to the order. Hudders had an undisclosed interest in the third-party external sales agency, in violation of Amex policies, and her misconduct caused Amex to suffer a financial loss, the order states. Her order was issued upon her consent and without her admitting or denying any allegation made or implied by the Board of Governors.

The order against White, Docket No. 26-032-E-I, identifies her as a former employee and institution-affiliated party of Regions Bank, a state member bank. White was a Relationship Banker at the bank’s Hickory Ridge Branch in Memphis, Tennessee, until her termination on November 1, 2024.

White knowingly cashed counterfeit or fraudulent checks in return for personal benefits, including cash, as part of a broader check-fraud ring that caused more than $396,000 in losses to the bank, according to the order. Like the Hudders order, White’s order was issued upon her consent and without her admitting or denying any allegation made or implied by the Board of Governors.

The Hudders and White orders each state that the respondent’s conduct constituted violations of law or regulation, unsafe or unsound banking practices, or breaches of fiduciary duty, and involved personal dishonesty or willful or continuing disregard for the institution’s safety and soundness.

Prohibition Terms and Duration

Each order prohibits the respondent, without the prior written approval of the Board of Governors and, where necessary under section 8(e)(7)(B) of the FDI Act, another federal financial institutions regulatory agency, from participating in any manner in the conduct of the affairs of any institution or agency specified in section 8(e)(7)(A) of the FDI Act. Those institutions include any insured depository institution, any holding company of an insured depository institution or any subsidiary of such a holding company, and certain foreign banks or companies and their subsidiaries.

The prohibitions also cover soliciting, procuring, transferring, attempting to transfer, voting or attempting to vote any proxy, consent or authorization with respect to any voting rights in such institutions; violating any voting agreement previously approved by a federal banking agency; and voting for a director or serving or acting as an institution-affiliated party, such as an officer, director or employee.

Each respondent consented to the issuance of the order, agreed to comply with each and every provision, and waived any rights to the issuance of a notice of intent to prohibit, to an evidentiary hearing, to judicial review of the order, and to challenge or contest the basis, issuance, terms, validity, effectiveness or enforceability of the order. Each order recites that it was issued before the filing of any notices, the taking of any testimony, or the adjudication of any issue of fact or law, solely to settle the matter without a formal proceeding or protracted litigation.

Any violation of an order separately subjects the respondent to appropriate civil or criminal penalties, or both, under sections 8(i) and (j) of the FDI Act, 12 U.S.C. 1818(i) and (j). The orders do not bar or otherwise prevent the Board of Governors, or any other federal or state agency or department, from taking any other action affecting the respondents, though the Board agreed not to take any further action on the matters addressed by the orders based on facts presently known to it. Each provision of the orders remains fully effective and enforceable until expressly stayed, modified, terminated or suspended in writing by the Board of Governors.