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As federal and state officials continue down the road toward relaxing cannabis restrictions, banks have questions beyond simply whether they can accept marijuana dispensaries as clients. They wonder whether less direct financial ties to the businesses could be cause for concern too.
Banks can choose whether to keep accounts for certain marijuana dispensaries and report limited information to federal officials when the businesses are unlikely targets of prosecutors, the U.S. Treasury Department said Friday.
The United States should strengthen its efforts to fight money laundering and terrorist financing associated with Afghan opium ahead of a military withdrawal from the nation, U.S. officials said Wednesday.
A number of marijuana dispensaries are attempting to convert their profits into securities and other investments to hedge against the threat of having their bank accounts frozen and subjected to federal asset forfeiture proceedings, say sources.
Tasked to consider whether it can offer regulatory relief to the medical marijuana industry, the U.S. Treasury Department may have few options to persuade reluctant financial institutions to bank state-approved dispensaries.
U.S. investigators Wednesday disclosed the seizure of $31 million from seven American banks as part of a probe into an alleged Peruvian money laundering network that exploited industrial firms and shell companies.
When Mexico's President Felipe Calderon relinquishes power in December to his successor, he'll leave behind a decidedly mixed legacy in the fight against the country's drug cartels. But U.S. law enforcement agents and other officials worry that Mexico's next leader could do worse, sources say.
Dozens of U.S. banks along the country's southern border are denying new accounts to wealthy Mexican nationals and corporations because of due diligence troubles caused by drug-related violence in Mexico.
A top BCCI investigator spoke with reporter Larissa Bernardes about some of the complex money laundering schemes he encountered during his undercover work.
The U.S. Justice Department continues to seized more than $3.2 million in nearly 400 accounts tied to narcotics dealers, Transparency International published its annual corruption report and more, in this weeks roundup.
More than 100 medical marijuana clinics have seen their accounts closed in the last 18 months by at least three U.S. banks concerned about regulatory repercussions, say cannabis advocacy groups.
The opaque financial structures of the sports sector, including soccer and basketball, can be abused by criminals seeking to disguise dirty money and climb social ladders, an intergovernmental organization said Wednesday.
Arizona's Supreme Court struck down a ruling Wednesday that would have allowed the attorney general to order freezes on wire transfers from 28 other states to locations in northern Mexico.
Africa is fast becoming one of the world's largest hubs for smuggling cocaine, heroin and prescription drugs from South America and Asia into Europe and the United States, according to a United Nations watchdog group.
The Central Bank of Uruguay has issued an official list of politically-connected individuals in a wide variety of government or quasi-government positions to aid banks and law enforcement in due diligence and criminal investigations.
Latin American and Canadian drug cartels profit and launder between $51 billion and $95 billion from U.S. sales annually, often smuggling their proceeds across the border, according to a government report.
Bolivia's decision to oust the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration from the country will likely open the way for increase in regional drug trafficking and organized crime, say analysts.
U.S. Justice Department prosecutions involving narcotics are expected to remain flat for fiscal year 2008, as immigration violations will again be the most commonly charged federal offense, according to a report by a Syracuse University organization that tracks trends in law enforcement.
The case points to the difficulties that large money service businesses face in detecting compliance violations at associated stores, compliance consultants say.
The Uruguay government has proposed a number of reforms that include elimination of the tax benefits of the Financial Investments Public Limited Companies.
