Tagged: anti-money laundering

Episode 35 –Update on AML Compliance from Recent AML Enforcement Actions

In the early part of 2018, the Justice Department brought two significant AML criminal enforcement actions against US Bancorp and Rabobank, respectively. These two cases, coupled with the new beneficial ownership regulations effective May 11, 2018, raise significant changes in the AML compliance and enforcement landscape.  In addition, the SEC and FINRA brought AML enforcement actions against Aegis Corporation and three individuals, two of whom were...

Webinar: A Review of FinCEN’s New Beneficial Ownership Regulations

Webinar: A Review of FinCEN’s New Beneficial Ownership Regulations Wednesday, March 28, 2018, 12 Noon EST Sign Up Here After a lengthy implementation period, FinCEN’s new beneficial ownership regulations are about to become effective. Financial institutions are scrambling to meet a May 11, 2018 deadline. FinCEN’s new regulations require financial institutions to implement important new beneficial ownership requirements as part of their customer due diligence...

Financial Institutions Are Playing Catch-Up in AML and Sanctions Compliance

Compliance officers are a much more collaborative group of professionals than lawyers.  Compliance officers share information with colleagues about compliance experiences, best practices and strategies.  The compliance industry benefits from this sharing of information. On occasion, however, this sharing of a company’s performance in one area can lead to unfair judgments by a recipient of the information.  For example, one company may conduct an in-depth...

Regulators Slap Banks, MSBs and Card Club with AML Violation Penalties

Financial institutions face enormous pressures with respect to anti-money laundering compliance.  These burdens are about to grow with implementation of customer due diligence rules.  In 2017, federal and state regulators stepped up AML enforcement.  Here is a quick rundown of some of the enforcement actions: Citibank paid a $70 million penalty  to the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (here) for violating its 2012...

MoneyGram CCO Pays Civil Penalty

Like any other profession, the compliance profession is not immune to bad apples. Lawyers know the law but have been criminally prosecuted for breaking the law. The same goes for compliance professionals. If the compliance profession wants to build credibility, it has to adopt professional standards and it has to accept when a bad apple is appropriately punished. Instead of claiming that prosecuting CCOs will cause...

The Banking Stepchild: Money Service Businesses

Sometimes risk analysis can result in paralysis. Finding your risk tolerance and applying it to specific situations requires a nuanced approach. I am always wary of anyone who tells me categorical rules – e.g. we do not do business in Russia because it is too risky. In this era of oversimplification, such statements border on intellectual dishonesty. A careful approach to risk analysis always involves...