News

FinCEN Defends Second Designation of Tanzanian Bank

By Valentina Pasquali

The U.S. financial intelligence unit rejected claims that its most recent attempt to blacklist a Tanzanian and Cypriot lender as a "primary money laundering concern" was based mostly on analysis of suspicious activity reports. In a 9-page defense of its second rulemaking against FBME, the head of the U.S. Treasury Department's Financial Crimes Enforcement Network argued that the bureau had analyzed and referenced SARs "simply to affirm" other evidence that the lender processed a "significant volume" of "obscured transactions" for shell companies. The bureau most recently sought to ban FBME from the U.S. financial system in March, reiterating its accusations...

TO READ THE FULL STORY