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GAO: Treasury Department Should Clarify How It Designates ‘Primary’ Laundering Concerns

The U.S. Treasury Department must improve the way it designates financial institutions and jurisdictions it believes to be at higher risk for money laundering, according to a government watchdog report released Thursday. When the department issued 11 designations of "primary money laundering concern" under Section 311 of the U.S. Patriot Act, it failed to give the U.S. Justice Department and State Department enough time to weigh in on the seriousness of the entities' deficiencies, the Government Accountability Office (GAO) said. The designations were against eight banks and three jurisdictions. The GAO highlighted one instance in which the Treasury Department gave...

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