The US Treasury Department announced $1.21 billion in penalties against Bank of America for its lapses in anti-money laundering and alleged sanctions violations, and warned that enforcement of AML rules and federal Bank Secrecy Act compliance is a top priority.
AML
Posted inAML
American Express hit with $350M penalty for lax BSA/AML compliance program
The Office of the Comptroller of the Currency and the U.S. Federal Reserve Board (FRB) each took enforcement action against American Express for deficiencies in its Bank Secrecy Act/anti-money laundering compliance program.
Posted inTop Stories
Former Florida TD Bank employee admits laundering millions for Colombian criminals
A former employee at a Florida TD Bank branch has pleaded guilty to laundering about $4.8 million for Colombians involved in criminal activity in exchange for small bribes.
Posted inAML
Vietnam’s AML rules require banks to trace owners beyond its borders
Vietnam has introduced temporary measures to strengthen its anti-money laundering framework. It requires financial institutions to collect and clarify how they identify beneficial owners.
Posted inBest Practices
Before the first crypto transaction, finance needs a seat at the compliance table
When an established company considers holding crypto, the compliance questions usually come first. Is the activity permissible? Is the exchange or custodian acceptable? Have the wallets been screened? Are AML and sanctions controls adequate? Those questions can all have satisfactory answers while the transaction still produces an outcome the institution did not intend. The reason […]
Posted inAML
End of BOI rule doesn’t mean end of BOI responsibilities for banks, small businesses
The Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN) ended the requirement that small businesses report beneficial ownership information (BOI) but neither businesses nor banks should consider themselves off the hook about BOI, experts said. FinCEN announced Aug. 11 it was killing the BOI rule, a mandate that certain small businesses report information about any persons holding […]
Posted inAML
LexisNexis Risk Solutions exec on how compliance in all sectors supports the virtuous circle of crime prevention
Katarina Pranjic recently added “investigations” to her job title of regulatory policy director, economic crime, at LexisNexis Risk Solutions. Despite her credentials, she found her new immersion in investigations “exciting and terrifying,” revealing how compliance and investigations can gain from collaborating.
Posted inAML
FinCEN analysis finds smuggling transactions in SARs reached nearly $5 billion
Banks and money services businesses (MSB) reported nearly $5 billion in transactions over three years with suspected links to human smuggling and trafficking, according to an analysis by the Treasury Department’s Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN). The federal Bank Secrecy Act (BSA) requires banks and MSBs, which include currency exchangers, check cashing businesses and […]
Posted inBest Practices
Record-setting AML penalty against UBS was years in the making
FinCEN and several other regulators levied a combined $125 million penalty against UBS Financial Services (UBSFS), a broker-dealer and futures commission merchant, due to a series of long-standing compliance failures. The total penalty was a joint effort of federal regulators, including FINRA ($20 million), the Securities and Exchange Commission ($20 million), and the Commodity Futures Trading […]
Posted inAsia
Singapore’s AML framework has a gap against financial crime, FATF finds
Singapore performs well on detecting and prosecuting financial crime, according to a new FATF and APG report, but enforcement still struggles to target the organizers behind its growing cyber-fraud problem.