News
Senators Call for AML Prosecutions, Improved Oversight of Cross-Border Money Transport
By Colby Adams
printU.S. lawmakers Thursday criticized federal officials for delays in finalizing anti-money laundering rules and failing to prosecute banks and bankers that facilitate billions of dollars in illicit transactions. In a 43-page report, members of the U.S. Senate Caucus on International Narcotics Control called for the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN) to finalize an October 2011 proposal that would make prepaid cards subject to cross-border reporting requirements and a March 2012 proposal that would require banks to identify the beneficial owners of their corporate accounts. Criticizing the U.S. Justice Department's decision to pursue deferred prosecution agreements and monetary settlements with Wachovia...
TO READ THE FULL STORY
Related News
A longtime congressional advocate of tough financial crime laws will soon use his new Senate chairmanship to push a measure that would expand the U.S. list of specified unlawful activities.
The Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN) issued an administrative ruling Friday clarifying when financial institutions must file currency transaction reports for transactions with armored car companies.
As U.S. officials work to shield American prepaid cards from abuse by financial crooks, foreign-issued stored value products remain a relatively easy avenue to move money into the United States anonymously.
Government often moves slowly and (hopefully) deliberatively, but one might wonder whatever happened to those pre-paid card readers being tested along U.S. borders.
Lobbying by the world's largest stored value payment facilitator has indefinitely delayed, and perhaps permanently blocked, a plan to give customs officials the ability to read prepaid cards, say sources.
Trade-based schemes and bulk cash smuggling are among the most common tactics used by international money launderers, according to Joseph Gallion, the deputy assistant director of the Financial, Narcotics and Special Operations Division for the Homeland Security Investigations (HSI).
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.
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.
American officials will begin field-testing prepaid card readers at U.S. border stops next month as part of the lead-up to the Treasury Department regulations governing their cross-border transport, say officials.
Disputes and confusion over which companies will be responsible for anti-money laundering rules on stored value products has delayed federal registration and oversight of the sector, say industry representatives.
When the DOJ accused 14 in June of washing Mexican cartel money via a horse racing operation, it signified a rare feat in the drug war: a prosecution built solely on money laundering charges. Despite years of trying to choke the cash networks of Mexicans drug gangs, such cases remain the exception.
Displeased with proposed regulations, federal and state law enforcement officials are asking lawmakers and the U.S. Treasury Department to strengthen controls on the cross-border movement of prepaid access products.
Restricting transfers between unrelated individuals and requiring IDs to load value are among over a dozen ways financial institutions can limit compliance risks with prepaid access products, an association of banks said Friday.
The U.S. Treasury Department Tuesday prescribed new compliance rules on the prepaid product industry, a sector largely unregulated despite concerns about its vulnerability to money launderers.
A dearth of U.S. Treasury Department regulations governing the cross-border transportation of prepaid access products has hamstrung American efforts to combat Mexican drug-trafficking organizations, according to lawmakers.
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.
Senators chastised the U.S. Treasury Department Wednesday for delays in regulating prepaid access products that can be used to smuggle drug proceeds from the United States into Mexico.
Revisions to Mexico's anti-money laundering strategy promised earlier this month must account for regulatory-gaps in trade-based money laundering, the continuing problem of casas de cambio and the use of U.S. dollars in Mexico, say ex-law enforcement officials and compliance professionals.
Proposed regulations by the U.S. Treasury Department on the prepaid card industry are raising questions and concerns among anti-money laundering compliance consultants on how the rules can be implemented and enforced.
The U.S. Treasury Department proposed Monday to place non-bank providers of prepaid access products into a distinct category of money service businesses in an effort to impose Bank Secrecy Act regulations on the prepaid card industry.