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The Senate's Foreign Relations Committee passed legislation Tuesday that would allow the White House to impose sanctions on entities that provide petroleum products or military assistance to Syria's government.
The emergence of jihadist units fighting in Syria against forces loyal to the government poses an immense challenge for banks utilizing U.S. Treasury Department licenses in the country, say sanctions experts.
U.S. financial institutions must freeze any account and block any payment linked to the Syria Islamic International Bank (SIIB), the U.S. Treasury Department announced Wednesday.
The total number of anti-money laundering enforcement fines handed down by federal regulators rose by 67 percent in 2011 compared to the previous year.
As international pressure against Syria's crackdown on protesters mounts, efforts by financial institutions to identify transactions related to Syrian arms deals will likely prove fruitless, say analysts.
American banks must block any transaction tied to Syria's largest bank and report the freeze to the U.S. Treasury Department's Office of Foreign Assets Control, under sanctions issued Wednesday.
Caught between pressure from U.S. lawmakers to crack down harder on Iran and Syria and the desire to act in concert with America's allies, the White House is walking a fine line in its use of economic sanctions.
Large banks are bracing for possible orders from the Obama administration to freeze assets of individuals in the Syrian government that could come as early as this week, say compliance professionals.
