New Zealand's Ministry of Justice called for industry input ahead of the government's submission next year of legislation that could impose anti-money laundering rules on non-bank businesses and amend suspicious activity reporting obligations.
The Internal Revenue Service's Criminal Investigations division for the second straight year began fewer investigations and sought a smaller number of prosecutions for money laundering, terrorist financing and other financial crimes, the agency said Thursday.
Switzerland's Federal Council says it may limit cash purchases of property, jewelry and other assets, Iran appeals European Union sanctions imposed in March, and more, in this midweek roundup.
Three recently adopted international treaties drafted to foster trade between the Americas and Europe will also make it easier for financial criminals to launder money, say attorneys and former investigators.
With little knowledge of federal compliance reporting requirements, few of the gold buyers jumping into a growing market implement controls meant to stymie money launderers, say industry professionals.
Faced with raised compliance expectations, many large financial institutions are expanding the types of corporate clients they ask to implement anti-money laundering controls to include import-export businesses, payroll companies and payday lending firms.
The division of investigatory and enforcement powers between two U.S. Treasury Department agencies has resulted in few monetary penalties for anti-money laundering compliance lapses by money services businesses and tension between the two agencies, say current and former government officials.
Criminals are exploiting inadequate safeguards in free trade zones to launder money, evade taxes and illegally ship material used to build weapons of mass destruction, according to an intergovernmental group.
The U.S. Treasury Department's financial intelligence unit issued guidance Thursday on how to spot and report transactions tied to trade-based money laundering, a type of crime on the rise.
A jewelry industry advocacy group is helping anti-money laundering examiners at the IRS to better understand the vulnerabilities and business models of dealers in precious metals and stones.
Financial institutions providing credit in international transactions should check for suspicious activity pointing to trade-based money laundering, a banking consortium said Thursday.
FATF's new president talks to reporter Larissa Bernardes about the organization's plans to revisit its 40 + 9 recommendations and address emerging money laundering threats.
Though headlines are focused on the subprime mortgage crisis and recessionary fears, criminals are still finding ways to launder funds, including through trade-based finance , says Elaine Carey, Senior Vice President and National Director of Control Risks, an independent risk consultancy office.
A federal judge's ruling that online auctioneer eBay is not responsible for determining whether items sold on its website are counterfeit is likely to increase online vulnerabilities to money launderers, say analysts.
Countries need to establish training programs to help bank regulators and law enforcement agents detect the growing problem of trade-based money laundering, FATF said in guidance issued Tuesday.
The United Kingdom may turn over trade data to U.S. officials in exchange for access to a U.S. computer system designed to detect trade-based money laundering, according to the British customs service.
The Internal Revenue Service is understaffed and unable to effectively conduct Bank Secrecy Act examinations on the thousands of non-bank financial companies for which it has oversight responsibility, according to compliance professionals.
Since 2000, organized criminal syndicates and terrorist organizations have "dramatically" increased efforts to counterfeit goods, a crime that can be both highly profitable and difficult to detect, money laundering experts say.
The Internal Revenue Service will not start implementing most jewelry business examinations for Bank Secrecy Act compliance until at least fiscal year 2008, an agency official said Monday.
Spanish authorities cracked a major gold-based money laundering scheme by a group of jewelers. Experts say the jewelry and precious metals industries lack controls to prevent laundering.