Latin America's economic growth has outpaced its development of institutions tasked with fighting financial crime, according to Monica Arruda de Almeida, an adjunct assistant professor for the Center for Latin American Studies at Georgetown University who researches transnational regulation.
A bipartisan bill targeting banks that offer financial services to Hezbollah is likely to garner broad political support among U.S. lawmakers, according to advocates of strong counterterrorist measures.
A European Union decision to impose sanctions on Hezbollah's military wing will also compel financial institutions in Europe to comb their accounts for links to the group's social services and fundraising arms.
The government of Iran and banks under its influence are increasingly using investments in foreign financial institutions as a means to circumvent sanctions, including restrictions on interbank messages, say sources.
The U.S. Justice Department seized $150 million held for a Lebanese financial institution at accounts at five U.S. banks, as part of a crackdown on a purported terrorist financing network.
American sanctions enforcers will "primarily" focus in coming months on blacklisting Chinese firms that buy and resell defense industry or dual-use goods to Iran, a U.S. Justice Department official said Wednesday.
U.S. lawmakers Thursday questioned how a blacklisted Lebanese terrorist organization works with political leaders and narco-traffickers in Latin America.
OFAC blacklisted nine individuals and two entities in South Americas tri-border region for providing financial and logistical support to the Hezbollah terrorist organization.