A federal court stalled the U.S. financial intelligence unit's second attempt to blacklist a Tanzanian bank under the Patriot Act and ordered the bureau to submit a full explanation of the process that led to its determination.
Attorneys for a Tanzanian and Cypriot bank will ask a federal judge to review the U.S. Treasury Department's second attempt since July to blacklist their client under the Patriot Act.
Attorneys for a Tanzanian bank have argued that the second U.S. attempt to blacklist their client under the Patriot Act relies on questionable evidence and the assistance of a "corrupt, lawless" foreign regulator.
A federal judge on Friday granted the U.S. Treasury Department a second shot at blacklisting a Tanzanian financial institution for its purported facilitation of money laundering and sanctions violations.
The U.S. Treasury Department on Thursday acknowledged flaws in its designation of a Tanzanian bank as a money-laundering conduit and asked a federal judge for time to justify the sanction.
A Tanzanian lender stands to lose hundreds of millions of dollars and access to foreign bank accounts in the likely event that it loses a legal battle with the U.S. Treasury Department.
The U.S. Treasury Department ordered banks to sever their ties with a Tanzania-based financial institution that purportedly caters to clients seeking to circumvent compliance controls.