News
Financial Lobbying Groups Ask FinCEN to Clarify Patriot Act Designations
By Brian Monroe
printTwo lobbying groups are asking the U.S. Treasury Department to amend proposals that would require banks to close accounts and maintain additional records for three companies accused of aiding terrorists and money launderers. In a joint letter, the American Bankers Association (ABA) and the Clearing House Association asked the department's Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN) to better explain how it intends to use powers granted under Sec. 311 of the Patriot Act against Lebanon-based Halawi Exchange Co. and Kassem Rmeiti & Co. for Exchange and Costa Rica-based Liberty Reserve S.A. Earlier this year, the bureau proposed designating each of the...
TO READ THE FULL STORY
Related News
Efforts to ramp up the U.S. financial intelligence unit's enforcement of the Bank Secrecy Act have run into a longstanding hurdle: the bureau's reliance on financial regulators for case leads.
At the same time that the nation's financial intelligence unit is readying unprecedented fines against compliance officers, the agency is facing stark questions about its enforcement efforts, including its hiring practices.
Ukraine's widespread protests and weakened political stability are likely to prompt nervous investors and corrupt officials alike to move their money abroad, say economic analysts.
The U.S. Treasury Department's financial intelligence unit is considering invoking for the first time a Bank Secrecy Act power to obtain data on foreign banks, say multiple sources.
The alleged money laundering of $6 billion through bank accounts controlled by a virtual currency operator and its accomplices reflects widespread and serious anti-money laundering vulnerabilities, say industry experts.
A recent spate of compliance fines and U.S. investigations has imposed renewed pressure on British banks to improve their anti-money laundering and sanctions programs, say industry sources.
In the wake of a high-profile congressional hearing, more than a dozen large financial institutions have amended how they share information with affiliate institutions in bank secrecy havens, say compliance professionals.
The U.S. Justice Department is seeking $483 million in forfeitures related to an alleged trade-based money laundering scheme that funded Hezbollah through the sale of American cars in West Africa.
The U.S. Treasury Department and the Federal Reserve issued separate enforcement actions Thursday against HSBC North America Holdings Inc. for systemic Bank Secrecy Act compliance violations.
Few small financial firms in the U.K. have adequate anti-money laundering and sanctions compliance programs, including enhanced due diligence controls for high-risk clients, Britain's top financial regulator said Monday.
The U.S. Treasury Department doesn't expect financial institutions to treat the 28 countries blacklisted by an intergovernmental group last month for weak anti-money laundering controls as non-cooperating nations under U.S. Patriot Act rules.
The Caribbean nation of Aruba is set to impose a raft of new anti-money laundering rules in an attempt to stave off the island's inclusion on an international blacklist that could be released next month.
A federal court's dismissal of a two-year old lawsuit against five Lebanese banks for allegedly providing financial services to Hizbollah could impact lawsuits against other banks facing similar cases.
The Federal Reserve Board and a Florida financial regulator ordered a Miami branch of Israel's largest bank earlier this month to overhaul its anti-money laundering program within 60 days.
U.S. federal and state regulators told French bank Societe Generale to strengthen the anti-money laundering controls of its New York branch, including its dollar-clearing operations.
Financial institutions adjusted well to August 2007 requirements that they scrutinize some correspondent relationships, according to a study by the U.S. Treasury Department.
Devaluations of several of the world's top currencies in the past six months, some by nearly 30 percent, are prompting criminals to shift their assets into U.S. dollars, say analysts.
The Federal Depositors Insurance Corp. issued cease-and-desist orders against two banks in November over lax due diligence in their anti-money laundering programs, the agency said Monday.
As the nexus between terrorist financing and drug trafficking widens, financial institutions will have to more closely scrutinize their correspondent banking relationships, say consultants.
The processing of checks and drafts from foreign institutions does not by itself constitute a correspondent relationship, FinCEN said in the guidance.