Cost-cutting and consolidation among banks is undermining Bank Secrecy Act compliance at some financial institutions, according to bank regulators.
Whether AML officers should directly contact customers when questions arise is an issue cash-strapped financial institutions have increasingly had to contend with, say consultants.
The International Monetary Fund is launching a donor-supported trust fund to assist countries in implementing anti-money laundering and counter-terrorist financing legislation and programs.
While it may seem like a relatively minor part of a bank's anti-money laundering program, federal examiners are increasingly paying attention to the role boards of directors can play in stemming financial crime.
The Federal Depositors Insurance Corp. issued cease-and-desist orders against two banks in November over lax due diligence in their anti-money laundering programs, the agency said Monday.
Federal regulators are not giving banks any free passes when it comes to anti-money laundering compliance despite a flurry of loan-related enforcement actions, according to an analysis of recent penalty orders.
IRS senior BSA officer David Tilzer speaks about the AML challenges that MSBs and insurance companies face as they rely on limited resources to monitor sprawling networks of agents for compliance
As lawmakers and banking compliance professionals turn their attention to the burgeoning credit crisis, the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. has issued a dozen Bank Secrecy Act-related enforcement actions, serving to warn institutions not to skimp on their anti-money laundering efforts.
Compliance consultants say candid warnings about the dangers of AML failures, coupled with training sessions peppered with some history and compelling anecdotes, will go along way in keeping directors focused on their AML responsibilities.
U.S. banks with more than $20 billion in assets are assigning an average 33 employees to fulfill their Bank Secrecy Act compliance obligations, according a survey released Sunday at the American Bankers Association Regulatory Compliance Conference in Atlanta.
RBC Dain Rauscher Inc. failed to establish written procedures for filing suspicious activity reports, adequately review transaction structuring or establish adequate monitoring systems so it could act on exceptions identified by the firm's AML department, according to the order.