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Mortgage Abuse Crackdown Will Draw Scrutiny to AML Departments, Say Consultants

By Brian Monroe

Plans by the Obama administration to pursue civil and criminal cases against institutions that illegally promoted mortgage-backed securities could also bring scrutiny to anti-money laundering compliance officers. The White House initiative will draw on dozens of investigators, attorneys and state prosecutors to "aggressively" pursue leads against banks, U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder said in a Jan. 27 press conference. A subgroup of the department's Financial Fraud Enforcement Task Force, the Residential Mortgage-Backed Securities Working Group has already issued civil subpoenas to 11 financial institutions. The inquiries will also mean a closer look at anti-money laundering (AML) and anti-fraud practices at...

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