On May 18, the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (“FinCEN”) issued an Advisory “to alert financial institutions to rising medical scams related to the COVID-19 pandemic. This [A]dvisory contains red flags, descriptions of...more
As expected, on May 8, 2020, the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (“FinCEN”) reissued its Geographic Targeting Orders (“GTOs”) requiring U.S. title insurance companies to identify the natural persons behind legal entities...more
5/13/2020
/ Anti-Money Laundering ,
Beneficial Owner ,
BSA/AML ,
FinCEN ,
Geographic Targeting Order ,
Money Laundering ,
Real Estate Investments ,
Real Estate Market ,
Reporting Requirements ,
Title Insurance ,
Virtual Currency
On May 4, the Financial Action Task Force (“FATF”) issued a paper entitled “Covid-19-Related Money Laundering and Terrorist Financing – Risk and Policy Responses (“Paper”). ...more
5/11/2020
/ AML/CFT ,
Anti-Money Laundering ,
BSA/AML ,
CARES Act ,
Coronavirus/COVID-19 ,
Corruption ,
FATF ,
Financial Crimes ,
Financial Fraud ,
Financial Institutions ,
Financial Transactions ,
FinCEN ,
Money Laundering ,
Paycheck Protection Program (PPP)
Some Commentary on the Unfortunate Relationship Between Crisis and Fraud -
The Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (“FinCEN”) released an update (“Update”) on its March 16, 2020 COVID-19 Notice, on which we previously...more
In its 2020 National Strategy for Combating Terrorist and Other Illicit Financing (“2020 Strategy”), the U.S. Department of Treasury (“Treasury”) has laid out its AML and money laundering enforcement priorities. Last week, we...more
3/5/2020
/ AML/CFT ,
Anti-Money Laundering ,
Broker-Dealer ,
BSA/AML ,
Currency Transaction Reports (CTR) ,
FATF ,
Financial Institutions ,
FinCEN ,
Foreign Investment ,
Geographic Targeting Order ,
Innovative Technology ,
Legal Representatives ,
Money Laundering ,
Natural Person Requirement ,
Real Estate Investments ,
Real Estate Market ,
Real Estate Transactions ,
Regulatory Requirements ,
Service Professionals ,
Title Insurance ,
U.S. Treasury ,
Virtual Currency
First in a Two-Post Series -
The U.S. Department of Treasury (“Treasury”) has issued its 2020 National Strategy for Combating Terrorist and Other Illicit Financing (“2020 Strategy”)....more
2/28/2020
/ AML/CFT ,
Anti-Money Laundering ,
Beneficial Owner ,
Broker-Dealer ,
BSA/AML ,
Casinos ,
Corruption ,
Critical Infrastructure Sectors ,
Cross-Border Transactions ,
Digital Assets ,
FATF ,
Financial Institutions ,
FinCEN ,
Foreign Correspondent Banking ,
Money Laundering ,
Money Services Business ,
Proposed Rules ,
Real Estate Transactions ,
Rulemaking Process ,
Securities Transactions ,
Strategic Enforcement Plan ,
Terrorism Funding ,
Terrorist Financing Regulations ,
Transparency ,
U.S. Treasury ,
Vulnerable Victims ,
White Collar Crimes
AMA Details Components of a Strong AML/BSA Program -
Earlier this month, the American Gaming Association (“AGA”) released an updated Best Practices for Anti-Money Laundering (“AML”) Compliance (“Best Practices Guidance”)...more
12/31/2019
/ Anti-Money Laundering ,
Best Practices ,
BSA/AML ,
Casinos ,
Customer Due Diligence (CDD) ,
Economic Sanctions ,
Employee Training ,
Financial Services Industry ,
Financial Transactions ,
FinCEN ,
Gambling ,
Gaming ,
Information Sharing ,
Know Your Customers ,
Money Laundering ,
Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) ,
Regulatory Requirements ,
Risk Assessment ,
Risk Management ,
Risk-Based Approaches ,
Suspicious Activity Reports (SARs)
As we blogged yesterday, the issue of the beneficial ownership of entities and the potentially pernicious role of shell companies in perpetuating money laundering is the primary anti-money laundering (“AML”) concern across...more
11/5/2019
/ Anti-Money Laundering ,
Beneficial Owner ,
Best Practices ,
BSA/AML ,
FATF ,
Financial Institutions ,
Money Laundering ,
New Guidance ,
Risk Assessment ,
Terrorist Financing Regulations ,
Transparency
U.S. House Passes Corporate Transparency Act; FATF Issues Guidance on Identifying Entities’ Beneficial Owners -
First Post in a Two-Post Series on Beneficial Ownership -
As we often blog, the issue of the beneficial...more
11/4/2019
/ Anti-Money Laundering ,
Beneficial Owner ,
Best Practices ,
BSA/AML ,
FATF ,
Financial Regulatory Reform ,
FinCEN ,
Legislative Agendas ,
Money Laundering ,
Proposed Legislation ,
Regulatory Requirements ,
Shell Corporations ,
Transparency
On September 25, 2019, the Southern District of New York dismissed a complaint brought by victims of rocket attacks in Israel perpetrated in 2006 by Hizbollah, operating in Lebanon. Kaplan v. Lebanese Canadian Bank, SAL, Civ....more
10/7/2019
/ Anti-Money Laundering ,
Antiterrorism Act ,
BSA/AML ,
Due Diligence ,
Financial Institutions ,
Financial Services Industry ,
Hizballah ,
Israel ,
Justice Against Sponsors of Terrorism Act (JASTA) ,
Money Laundering ,
Terrorism Funding ,
Terrorist Acts ,
Terrorist Financing Regulations
On July 22, 2019, the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System, the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation, the National Credit Union Administration, the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency and the U.S....more
Testimony Supports Bill Requiring States to Collect Beneficial Ownership Information at Entity Formation -
As we have blogged, the proposed Corporate Transparency Act of 2019 (the “Act”) seeks to ensure that persons who...more
5/24/2019
/ Bank Secrecy Act ,
Beneficial Owner ,
BSA/AML ,
Corporate Structures ,
FATF ,
FBI ,
Financial Regulatory Reform ,
FinCEN ,
Legislative Agendas ,
Limited Liability Company (LLC) ,
Money Laundering ,
OCC ,
Regulatory Burden ,
Regulatory Standards ,
Senate Committees ,
Tax Evasion ,
Transparency
For the first time, a broker-dealer, Central States Capital Markets, LLC (Central States), has been prosecuted for violating the Bank Secrecy Act (BSA). ...more
1/4/2019
/ Bank Secrecy Act ,
Broker-Dealer ,
BSA/AML ,
Cease and Desist Orders ,
Customer Identification Program (CIP) ,
Deferred Prosecution Agreements ,
Money Laundering ,
Native American Issues ,
Payday Loans ,
Regulatory Violations ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) ,
Suspicious Activity Reports (SARs) ,
Usury
Earlier this week, the Eleventh Circuit affirmed, in an unpublished opinion, that Coinbase Inc., an online platform used for buying, selling, transferring, and storing digital currency, could not compel arbitration on a...more
4/26/2018
/ Arbitration ,
Arbitration Agreements ,
BSA/AML ,
Coinbase ,
Cryptocurrency ,
Digital Currency ,
Financial Institutions ,
Financial Services Industry ,
Money Laundering ,
Money Services Business ,
Virtual Currency
Wednesday, the SEC Office of Compliance Inspections and Examinations (OCIE) announced its 2018 examination priorities, released in order to “improve compliance, prevent fraud, monitor risk, and inform policy.” ...more
2/9/2018
/ Anti-Money Laundering ,
Banking Sector ,
BSA/AML ,
Enforcement Actions ,
Money Laundering ,
NEP ,
OCIE ,
Retail Investors ,
SEC Examination Priorities ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) ,
Suspicious Activity Reports (SARs)
Part One of a Three-Part Series -
We begin this week with a three-part series on banking and the marijuana industry. States continue to pass medical and recreational use marijuana legislation despite that the fact that the...more
7/11/2017
/ Bank Secrecy Act ,
Banking Sector ,
BSA/AML ,
Cole Memorandum ,
Decriminalization of Marijuana ,
Department of Justice (DOJ) ,
Dispensaries ,
FinCEN ,
Marijuana ,
Marijuana Related Businesses ,
SAR
“Sometimes, the third time really is the charm” wrote the District Court for the District of Columbia on April 14, 2017. In its opinion, the court upheld FinCEN’s imposition of the Patriot Act’s fifth special measure against...more
In part two of our review of the 2016 developments in Anti-Money Laundering (AML), the Bank Secrecy Act (BSA), the criminal money laundering statutes, forfeiture, and related issues, we discuss four additional key...more
2/7/2017
/ Anti-Money Laundering ,
Bank Secrecy Act ,
Banking Sector ,
Banks ,
Bitcoin ,
BSA/AML ,
Civil Forfeiture ,
Currency Transaction Reports (CTR) ,
Digital Currency ,
Financial Institutions ,
Forfeiture ,
Money Laundering ,
Virtual Currency
On August 30, 2016, the U.S. Department of the Treasury and four U.S. federal banking regulators sought to correct a problem—at least in part one of their own creation—by issuing a “Joint Fact Sheet on Foreign Correspondent...more
2/7/2017
/ AML/CFT ,
Anti-Money Laundering ,
Bank Secrecy Act ,
Banking Sector ,
Banks ,
BSA/AML ,
Due Diligence ,
Financial Institutions ,
Foreign Financial Institutions (FFI) ,
IMF ,
Money Laundering ,
Regulatory Oversight ,
Risk Management
The federal courts continued in 2016 to produce a stream of cases pertaining to money laundering. We focus on three below because they involve analysis of basic issues that frequently arise in money laundering litigation....more
2/7/2017
/ Anti-Money Laundering ,
Banking Sector ,
Banks ,
BSA/AML ,
Civil Forfeiture ,
Cross-Border Transactions ,
Currency Transaction Reports (CTR) ,
Department of Justice (DOJ) ,
Energy Sector ,
Financial Institutions ,
Fraud ,
International Emergency Economic Powers Act (IEEPA) ,
Iran ,
Iran Sanctions ,
Money Laundering ,
Private Equity ,
Summary Judgment ,
Taylor v US ,
Wire Fraud
The field of forfeiture saw significant action in 2016. The IRS offered to return forfeited funds used in structuring, but Congress still may clip its ability to forfeit such funds. Meanwhile, DOJ renewed a controversial...more
2/7/2017
/ Asset Seizure ,
Bank Secrecy Act ,
BSA/AML ,
Criminal Investigations ,
Currency Transaction Reports (CTR) ,
Department of Justice (DOJ) ,
Financial Institutions ,
Forfeiture ,
IRS ,
Luis v United States ,
Money Laundering ,
SCOTUS ,
Sixth Amendment
2016 was a busy year for developments in Anti-Money Laundering (AML), the Bank Secrecy Act (BSA), the criminal money laundering statutes, forfeiture, and related issues. In part one of our year-in-review, we discuss six key...more
2/3/2017
/ Anti-Money Laundering ,
Bank Secrecy Act ,
Banking Sector ,
Banks ,
BSA/AML ,
Casinos ,
Consumer Lenders ,
Customer Due Diligence (CDD) ,
FATF ,
Financial Institutions ,
FinCEN ,
Fines ,
Gambling ,
Gaming ,
Geographic Targeting Order ,
Money Laundering ,
Mortgage Lenders ,
Mortgages ,
NYDFS ,
Offshore Funds ,
Panama Papers ,
Popular ,
Real Estate Market ,
Suspicious Activity Reports (SARs) ,
Tax Evasion
The U.S. Department of the Treasury and four U.S. federal banking regulators have issued the "Joint Fact Sheet on Foreign Correspondent Banking" in an effort to clarify enforcement priorities regarding Anti-Money Laundering...more
9/2/2016
/ AML/CFT ,
Anti-Money Laundering ,
Banking Sector ,
Banks ,
BSA/AML ,
Depository Institutions ,
Due Diligence ,
Foreign Correspondent Banking ,
Foreign Financial Institutions (FFI) ,
International Monetary Fund ,
U.S. Treasury