If you aren't certain that the Bank Secrecy Act job market is unusually active these days, ask anyone who has recently taken an executive position in a compliance department facing regulatory scrutiny. The message they're hearing: move quickly or move out of the way.
Mexican officials will extend until February an upcoming deadline for nonbank companies to implement anti-money laundering controls, according to sources with knowledge of the matter.
An agreement formalizing cooperation between a Mexican financial regulator and a U.S. overseer of money services businesses and banks is likely to result in more enforcement actions in both countries.
Bank compliance staff should better scrutinize clients tied to Central America and Mexico's cattle industry following a spate of related U.S. sanctions, say current and former officials.
Recent investigations indicate that a number of Mexican brokerage firms are converting drug profits into pesos and using a network of couriers to layer the money in American bank accounts.
For compliance officers charged with monitoring financial crime news, the timing of U.S. Treasury Department sanctions designations last month against Ismael Guerrero and Jose Perales may have seemed odd.
The United Kingdom could ban bearer shares, the Reserve Bank of India fined 22 banks for AML violations, and more, in the midweek roundup.
U.S. lawmakers may need to earmark more money for Mexico's financial intelligence unit as part of a $1.9 billion aid package intended to help fight drug trafficking, a federal official said Thursday.
The U.S. government's landmark case against HSBC Holdings Plc for knowingly turning a blind eye to financial crime is seemingly fated to end much as it began: complex and messy.
Changes to the final version of Mexico's new anti-money laundering law leave important gaps in the nation's compliance regime, and may elicit criticism from an intergovernmental policymaker, say analysts.
Recent disclosures of alleged trade-based money laundering schemes perpetrated by Mexico's Los Zetas drug cartel demonstrates the group's growing ability to diversify their methods of illicit finance, say sources.
When Mexico's President Felipe Calderon relinquishes power in December to his successor, he'll leave behind a decidedly mixed legacy in the fight against the country's drug cartels. But U.S. law enforcement agents and other officials worry that Mexico's next leader could do worse, sources say.
Mexico has lost as much $91 billion per year to capital flight associated with tax evasion and corruption during the last decade, according to a report by an American advocacy group.
Narcocorrido balladeers can profit by praising crime in their songs without living the lifestyle. But they can also have direct links to Mexican drug cartels, including by helping to launder dirty money.
American officials are investigating whether banks accepting cash declared by individuals entering the United States from Mexico are filing regulatory reports with the U.S. Treasury Department, say compliance professionals.
A broad anti-money laundering measure that would create and strengthen criminal penalties and impose reporting requirements on non-bank institutions in Mexico is likely to pass into law this month, say former government officials.
Mexican drug traffickers are likely laundering some of their profits in the country's casinos and nightclubs, as well as in campaign funds for political candidates, according to a leaked U.S. diplomatic communiqué.
Despite reports that 30 percent of Mexico's currency is derived from illicit funds, many compliance officers are just now waking up to the reality of the country's extensive money laundering problems, according to an AML consultant who works with MSBs.
Of the up to $39 billion in illegal funds smuggled from the United States into Mexico every year, approximately half ends up in Mexican financial institutions, according to a former official in the U.S. Treasury and Justice Departments.
Financial institutions, in attempting to minimize data breaches, often focus their budgets on systems meant to foil sophisticated hackers rather than guard against employee mistakes, such as losing a mobile device, and other vulnerabilities that cause most breaches.