News
U.S. Judge Rejects Arab Bank Bid to Have Terrorism Suit Dismissed
By Selina Román
printFamilies of suicide bombing victims say a U.S. judge's decision allowing a class-action lawsuit against a Middle Eastern bank sends a clear message that financial institutions can be held accountable for terrorist acts committed on foreign soil. New York District Court Judge Nina Gershon this week rejected Jordan-based Arab Bank's effort to have the case dismissed. In a 64-page opinion, Gershon ruled that the families adequately alleged that Arab Bank "knowingly and intentionally provided services to organizations it knew to be terrorist organizations," and that the bank "facilitated money laundering." The lawsuit, Almog et al v. Arab Bank, was filed...
TO READ THE FULL STORY
Subscribe
Learn More
Related News
A pair of civil complaints relying on a Colombian insurgent group's ties to Hezbollah could prompt a rise in similar lawsuits and related subpoenas sent to banks, according to legal experts.
The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit will soon consider a lower court ruling that denied a claim made by terror victims against Iranian funds on the grounds they had been moved out of the United States.
In the first trial of its kind, a federal court said Monday that Arab Bank is liable for deaths caused by Hamas and a Saudi charity that used its accounts to reward terrorism.
The U.S. House of Representatives Tuesday unanimously passed a bill aimed at foreign banks that provide financial services to Hezbollah, an Iran-backed, Lebanon-based Shiite militant group.
The top U.S. court Monday rejected a petition by Arab Bank seeking to shield it from potential penalties for not turning over records to plaintiffs claiming the institution had terrorist clients.
A transactional data handover mandated under a $102 million settlement disclosed Tuesday between the U.S. Justice Department and a defunct Beirut bank will likely lead to new financial crime investigations.
As U.S. officials work to shield American prepaid cards from abuse by financial crooks, foreign-issued stored value products remain a relatively easy avenue to move money into the United States anonymously.
A decision by the U.S. Second Circuit Court of Appeals affirming sanctions against Jordan's largest bank for not turning over data on suspicious accounts could leave some financial institutions with an unwanted choice, say attorneys.
The U.S. Treasury Department Friday fined a Sioux Falls, SD bank branch $10 million for not properly reporting instances of suspected structuring and terrorist financing.
A ruling by a U.S. District Court dismissing a case against a Jordanian bank accused of supporting Hamas won't likely resolve whether banks are liable for the terrorist actions of clients they no longer serve.
Increases in the rates that U.S. states tax cigarette purchasers has led to a rise in tobacco smuggling by organized crime groups and terrorist financiers, say governmental officials.
U.S. officials have launched a criminal investigation after linking data seized at Osama bin Laden's compound in Abbottabad, Pakistan to a Bank Secrecy Act report, counterterrorism investigators said Monday.
The U.S. Justice Department seized $150 million held for a Lebanese financial institution at accounts at five U.S. banks, as part of a crackdown on a purported terrorist financing network.
The U.S. Treasury Department's ability to freeze the funds of suspected terror financiers without a warrant is likely curtailed to emergency circumstances under a court order handed down last week.
Lawmakers are asking the U.S. Justice Department to clarify how it will prosecute individuals and groups that aid terrorist organizations, and whether those cases could involve innocent charity groups.
The dismissal last month of a $500 million civil lawsuit against UBS AG for allegedly contributing to terrorist attacks won't impact rulings on similar lawsuits against other banks, say analysts.
A federal ruling that equates making contributions to non-violent affiliates of terror organizations with aiding terrorist acts could mean a wave of lawsuits for charities and banks, say analysts.
Israeli lawyer Itsana Nitsana Darshan-Leitner, who represents victims of terrorism in lawsuits against banks, spoke recently with Fortent Inform reporter Brian Orsak about the suits and what banks should be doing to better monitor for terrorists attempting to exploit the financial system.
It can be difficult to get even the most basic information about customers and their businesses when compliance officers try to assess those customers' risks and determine what level of due diligence they require, according to bankers and consultants doing business in the Middle East.
The Treasury's Office of Foreign Assets Control said June 20 that U.S. companies can do business with the Palestinian Authority government headed by Prime Minister Salam Fayyad and President Mahmoud Abbas of the Fatah party. The U.S. had restricted certain financial transactions.