New U.S. sanctions intended to block a blacklisted Lebanese Shiite group from accessing the global financial system will likely raise compliance risks for lenders with operations in Lebanon and Europe, say analysts.
The U.S. House of Representatives Tuesday unanimously passed a bill aimed at foreign banks that provide financial services to Hezbollah, an Iran-backed, Lebanon-based Shiite militant group.
The U.S. Treasury Department ordered banks to sever their ties with a Tanzania-based financial institution that purportedly caters to clients seeking to circumvent compliance controls.
The House Committee on Foreign Affairs Thursday unanimously approved a measure that would penalize foreign banks that offer financial services to Hezbollah, an Iran-backed, Lebanon-based Shiite militant group.
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 transactional data handover mandated under a $102 million settlement disclosed Tuesday between the U.S. Justice Department and a defunct Beirut bank will likely lead to new financial crime investigations.
The U.S. Treasury Department Tuesday proposed designating two Beirut-based currency exchange houses under the Patriot Act for allegedly helping Lebanese drug traffickers launder millions of dollars.
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.
A decision by the U.S. Second Circuit Court of Appeals affirming sanctions against Jordan's largest bank for not turning over data on suspicious accounts could leave some financial institutions with an unwanted choice, say attorneys.
The U.S. Treasury Department Friday fined a Sioux Falls, SD bank branch $10 million for not properly reporting instances of suspected structuring and terrorist financing.
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.
Six months after the United States accused three Lebanon-based financial institutions of facilitating a colossal money laundering scheme, Lebanese officials and bankers say concerns about the nation's financial sector may be overblown.
The U.S. Treasury Department Tuesday designated a Belarusian bank a primary money laundering concern under the Patriot Act for allegedly helping shell companies transact over a billion dollars in suspicious transactions.
A recently adopted legislative amendment that would authorize punitive measures against foreign banks and countries that facilitate U.S. tax evasion faces significant opposition in the House of Representatives, say congressional sources and advocacy groups.
U.S. financial institutions will have more compliance work on their hands once a federal strategy to thwart international criminal organizations hits full stride, according to current and former government officials.
The U.S. Justice Department is seeking $483 million in forfeitures related to an alleged trade-based money laundering scheme that funded Hezbollah through the sale of American cars in West Africa.
Syrians chafing under U.S. sanctions against the country's largest bank are likely attempting to use Lebanese financial institutions to circumvent restrictions, according to the U.S. Treasury Department.
A federal court's dismissal of a two-year old lawsuit against five Lebanese banks for allegedly providing financial services to Hizbollah could impact lawsuits against other banks facing similar cases.
A group of 90 American, Israeli and Canadian citizens are suing American Express Bank and Lebanese Canadian Bank for $650 million, alleging the institutions provided financial services to blacklisted terror group Hizbollah.
Four Canadians are suing the Montreal branch of Lebanese-Canadian Bank, alleging that the institution knowingly provided financial services to Hizbollah, an organization blacklisted internationally for terrorism.