News
Banking Lobby Calls for Overhaul of FinCEN, BSA Enforcement
By Matt Squire
printThe country's largest banking association proposed a sweeping overhaul of U.S. anti-money laundering enforcement that would create a governmental entity responsible for overseeing Bank Secrecy Act compliance. The proposal, made public Thursday, includes five recommendations intended to scale back the compliance costs of banks and revamp the U.S. Treasury Department's Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN), which has become more of a "data conduit than a true buffer" between financial institutions and law enforcement, the American Bankers Association said. To better protect banks, lawmakers should create a Bank Secrecy Act (BSA) "gatekeeper" that would take up FinCEN's responsibilities of issuing regulations...
TO READ THE FULL STORY
Related News
A decision by the U.S. Treasury to reshape the nation's financial intelligence unit has spurred serious concerns about the direction of the agency.
The Bank of England reportedly exerts "strong pressure" on Russia's second largest bank, an arrested Zetas leader's sons tweet incriminating photographs, and more, in this week's news roundup.
Large banks need to clearly delineate which senior executives are responsible for Bank Secrecy Act compliance violations, the U.S. Comptroller of the Currency said in a speech Monday.
An influential Senate subcommittee will hear testimony on tax evasion through offshore banks, Switzerland agrees to follow automatic data exchange standards and more, in this week's news roundup.
Last year, I told you not to believe any of that "best of years, worst of years" stuff à la Charles Dickens with regard to 2012. But if 2013 was less eventful than the prior year, every indication is that 2014 will be "challenging" for financial institutions and regulators.
The U.S. Justice Department seizes digital funds tied to an Internet black market, Republicans line up behind effort to fight FATCA and more, in this week's news roundup.
Ahead of expected anti-money laundering regulations for investment advisers, some private equity firms may find themselves subject to such oversight for a reason few would have guessed: their fee structures.
Lawmakers should expand financial safe harbor protections to allow banks to better share their suspicions about money laundering and its predicate crimes, a top U.S. regulatory official said Sunday.
Amid all of the political rhetoric and bombast that accompanied television coverage of the 16-day government shutdown last month, one question never seemed to get any airtime: what did it all mean for the financial compliance industry?
JPMorgan Chase launches AML SWAT team as the bank's legal costs mount, Turkey blacklists over 350 entities in an effort to comply with United Nations sanctions, and more, in this week's news roundup.
Federal officials will weigh whether financial institutions can bank medical marijuana shops, New York's financial regulators asks two financial consultancies for data and more, in this week's news roundup.
Germany's BaFin is reportedly investigating potential AML violations by Deutsche Bank, a U.K. court could order the British government to pay millions to compensate a blacklisted Iranian bank, and more, in this midweek roundup.
The U.S. Treasury Department's financial intelligence unit is hiring three top-ranking officials as part of a restructuring announced in June.
The United States has done little to address gaps identified in 2006 by an international anti-money laundering watchdog, despite a follow-up national review expected within the next two years, say consultants.
U.S. lawmakers threaten to impose sanctions on Russia for harboring Edward Snowden, Switzerland transfers $962 million for backdated taxes, and more, in this week's news roundup.
As the compliance expectations of European regulators grow, banks should proactively move to adopt future changes outlined in proposals for the EU's Fourth Money Laundering Directive, according to the former global head of compliance at ABN Amro.
Canada's primary financial regulator is looking into whether Bank of Montreal violated anti-money laundering rules following the issuance of two enforcement actions Friday by federal U.S. agencies, a spokesperson confirmed.
The median salaries of compliance officers tasked with identifying money laundering and other financial crimes rose nearly six percent from 2011 to 2012, according to an industry survey released Thursday.
A proposal by the nation's largest bank lobbyist to overhaul the role of the U.S. Treasury Department's Financial Crimes Enforcement Network is getting a cool reception from government officials.
The federal agency charged with collecting and analyzing the reports of suspicious transactions and customers filed by financial institutions only looks at about 20 percent of the more than one million submitted every year, say former FinCEN insiders.