Canada's financial watchdogs outlined their expectations and priorities Monday, clarifying a policy that previously gave banks a warning one month in advance of pending regulatory examinations.
An individually-owned and operated money services business in Michigan will pay $12,000 and cease operations for failing to properly screen thousands of wire transfers to Yemen, U.S. regulators said Friday.
Arizona has granted the nation's largest money transmitter an additional three months to improve its anti-money laundering compliance program and avoid criminal prosecution.
Canada's top financial intelligence agency intends to work more closely with its counterparts abroad and investigators at home to identify money launderers, according to Gérald Cossette, the group's new director.
One of the country's top lobbying groups for money services businesses will ask lawmakers in February to streamline how the companies obtain licenses to operate in the United States.
The terms of a $100 million settlement disclosed Friday by MoneyGram for anti-money laundering lapses will cost the Dallas-based money remitter nearly $200 million once completed, regulatory documents show.
A 2008 investigation of Colombian cash couriers by customs officials and the U.S. Justice Department that made headlines for its ties to European cocaine sales had a lesser known result: Bank Secrecy Act regulations.
An agreement by one the nation's largest money transmitters to better share transactional data with investigators has resulted in greater scrutiny, both for the business and its chief competitor.
A consumer protection rule requiring money services businesses to disclose the fees their clients must pay has prompted dozens of banks of all sizes to consider dropping their personal remittance services.
Dozens of small banks and credit unions have begun courting money services businesses over the past year, offering financial services to the high-risk clients in exchange for compliance-related fees.
Disclosures by Canada's financial regulator of suspected money laundering and other crimes have more than tripled in recent years even as the number of suspicious transaction reports filed annually by banks has fallen.
Money services businesses have been slow to respond to an April request by the U.S. Treasury Department to provide more data on their individual agents, say compliance professionals.
The U.S. Treasury Department is in the final stages of levying a $12,000 civil money penalty against a New Jersey-based money remitter for failing to register as a money services business.
A U.S. Treasury Department plan to increase reporting on cross-border transactions would allow federal regulators and investigators to more easily detect unregistered money remitters - if they can sift through the data.
The Internal Revenue Service's anti-money laundering division is in the process of revamping how it examines tens of thousands of money services businesses, according to a former U.S. Treasury Department official.
Money services businesses and sellers of stored value cards will know this summer whether final rules by the U.S. Treasury Department will increase their anti-money laundering compliance duties and costs.
Canada's financial intelligence unit, which has been criticized for failing to effectively enforce the nation's anti-money laundering laws, is being new granted powers to levy money penalties against offending institutions.
Canadian authorities charged a Sri Lankan-born man with raising funds for a terrorist organization, marking the first time Canada has charged an individual with the crime.
The Canadian government is broadening the scope of its anti-money laundering and anti-terrorist financing reporting requirements in the real estate and casino industries in a bid to bring the country's regime in line with international standards.
The Canadian Department of Finance said the changes are designed to bring the countrys AML regime in line with the international standards set forth by the Financial Action Task Force.