Prompted by signs that criminals are increasingly exploiting prepaid cards, federal and state investigators are turning to a handful of recent legal decisions to justify reading the value held on the instruments, sources say.
An amended version of a long-delayed U.S. Treasury Department proposal to place new controls on the international transport of prepaid cards is under White House review and slated for introduction within three months.
An apparent decision by White House officials to postpone the issuance of final rules governing the cross-border transport of prepaid access products has once again drawn criticism from U.S. lawmakers.
A congressionally-mandated plan to require U.S. border crossers to declare funds held on prepaid cards remains stalled at the White House more than a year after its submission for final review.
The theft of $45 million by cybercriminals exploiting and manipulating stolen prepaid card data highlights weaknesses in how financial institutions monitor the use of stored value products, say security experts.
U.S. lawmakers Thursday criticized federal officials for delays in finalizing anti-money laundering rules and failing to prosecute banks and bankers that facilitate billions of dollars in illicit transactions.
As U.S. officials work to shield American prepaid cards from abuse by financial crooks, foreign-issued stored value products remain a relatively easy avenue to move money into the United States anonymously.
Lobbying by the world's largest stored value payment facilitator has indefinitely delayed, and perhaps permanently blocked, a plan to give customs officials the ability to read prepaid cards, say sources.
Trade-based schemes and bulk cash smuggling are among the most common tactics used by international money launderers, according to Joseph Gallion, the deputy assistant director of the Financial, Narcotics and Special Operations Division for the Homeland Security Investigations (HSI).
American officials will begin field-testing prepaid card readers at U.S. border stops next month as part of the lead-up to the Treasury Department regulations governing their cross-border transport, say officials.
Senators chastised the U.S. Treasury Department Wednesday for delays in regulating prepaid access products that can be used to smuggle drug proceeds from the United States into Mexico.
The U.S. Treasury Department's proposals to better regulate prepaid access products fail to outline how the new rules will be implemented and enforced, according to a governmental watchdog group.
Proposed regulations by the U.S. Treasury Department on the prepaid card industry are raising questions and concerns among anti-money laundering compliance consultants on how the rules can be implemented and enforced.
The U.S. Supreme Court okays the extradition of former Panamanian dictator Manuel Noriega, and a prominent Florida lawyer pleads guilty to bilking investors out of $1.2 billion in a massive Ponzi scheme, in this week's news roundup.
We never said compliance professionals had it easy, and 2010 doesn't look to be a year when things will be any better for the anti-money laundering and counterterrorism financing industry.
Nevada Senate Judiciary members Thursday approved a measure that would allow law enforcement officers to freeze, and in some cases seize, prepaid credit and stored-value cards without a warrant.
A U.S. Treasury Department ruling that clears merchants that reload stored value cards of Bank Secrecy Act compliance responsibilities may unfairly place that responsibility on bank sponsors of reloadable card programs, consultants say.
Banks that use third parties to manage and distribute their stored-value, or prepaid, cards must make sure Bank Secrecy Act compliance responsibilities are clearly designated, anti-money laundering compliance consultants say.