FinCEN issues first ever penalty for failing to comply with GTO order
The US treasury department’s Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN) has for the first time ever fined a business in the Los Angeles Fashion District for failing to comply with a geographic targeting order (GTO). A&S World Trading, operating under the name Fine Fragrance (A&S), has…
Crack down on TBML to battle the world’s kleptocrats says US senator
Action to prevent or stem trade-based money laundering (TBML) needs to be better coordinated to battle the world’s kleptocrats according to a comprehensive plan devised by a leading US senator. Sheldon Whitehouse has launched his plan in the wake of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, which…
FinCEN seeks comments on modernisation of US AML/CFT regulatory regime
The US treasury department’s Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN) has issued a request for information (RFI) seeking comments on ways to streamline, modernise and update the country’s anti-money laundering and counter financing of terrorism (AML/CFT) regime. As part of a formal review process, FinCEN says…
Draft reports, regulations and studies central to US trade-based financial crime compliance due from FinCEN before year end
A report on trade-based money laundering (TBML), regulations regarding anti-money laundering and counter financing of terrorism (AML/CFT) requirements for the antiquities trade and a study on money laundering and the art trade are amongst 22 reports, regulations or studies to be published by the US…
Banks should start preparing for new AML/CFT Priorities in BSA says FinCEN
Financial institutions should begin preparing for changes to the Bank Secrecy Act (BSA) that respond to new US priorities in anti-money laundering and counter financing of terrorism (AML/CFT) compliance that are expected to be announced by the end of this year according to the US…
FinCEN informs financial institutions of developments related to trade in antiquities and art
The US treasury department’s Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN) has issued a notice to inform financial institutions of the latest developments to prevent money laundering and report suspicious activity related to trade in art and antiquities. The notice covers new measures in the Anti-Money Laundering…
Financial exclusion and opaque banking laws help make Colombian gold more attractive than drugs to money launderers
The exclusion of artisanal and small-scale miners from the financial system and Switzerland’s opaque banking laws are amongst the factors making Colombia’s gold sector vulnerable to illicit financial flows (IFFs) according to a new report published by Global Financial Integrity (GFI). Meanwhile gold appears more…
US watchdog orders Mitsubishi to improve trade finance and other AML controls
Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group’s subsidiary, MUFG Bank, has been ordered to improve anti-money laundering (AML) controls and other compliance procedures at its US based branches by the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC). The financial services watchdog has found the US subsidiary of…
Initial Coin Offerings on the radar of trade-based financial crime focused agencies
The possibility of using newly launched cryptocurrencies in trade-based financial crime as well as a host of other money laundering and terrorist funding typologies is drawing the attention of agencies charged with detecting and preventing illicit and illegal financing. One example of this can be…
Illicit fund flows forcing bank closures on the US-Mexican border precipitates official rethink
Banking officials in the US have agreed to consider revising money-laundering regulations after a new report blamed tough regulations and heavy fines for a rash of bank closures along the Mexican border in recent years. Several banks have been concerned about the risk of trade-based…
