Federal regulators underestimated the extent to which anti-money laundering rules may have led financial institutions in recent years to end many of their relationships with high-risk clients near the U.S. border with Mexico, according to a congressional watchdog. From January 2014 to December 2016, 80 percent of lenders operating in the Southwest border region of the United States reported having closed or refused accounts for cash-intensive businesses, money transmitters and other entities deemed high-risk for money laundering, the Government Accountability Office, or GAO, disclosed Monday. In a 117-page report, the agency criticized the U.S. Treasury Department, Office of the Comptroller...
The U.S. Government Accountability Office published a report that highlights that Southwest border counties have been losing bank branches since 2012, largely driven by higher money laundering risks in the region.
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