Over the past 15 years, wide-ranging regulatory views have been promulgated by U.S. financial regulators. While they are congressionally authorized to issue rules that implement the BSA, subsequent interpretations of those rules have morphed into quasi-rules of their own.
Pending requirements that U.S. financial institutions more thoroughly vet their accountholders may especially challenge broker dealers, some of which are designing new systems to scrutinize investment advisers and others who control omnibus accounts and pooled investment vehicles, say sources.
Federal cases against attorneys, accountants and other professionals suspected of washing illicit proceeds have risen by roughly 30 percent in the year since the FBI began actively targeting third-party facilitators, according to the head of the bureau's money laundering unit.
Many compliance officers may have never heard of "circular ownership"- a corporate structure of holding companies and subsidiaries that financial institutions often struggle to map out and unravel during the customer-onboarding process.
The U.S. Treasury Department finalized its long-awaited customer due diligence rule Friday shortly after the introduction by the White House of a bevy of corporate transparency-related measures.
A U.S. Treasury Department proposal to toughen customer due diligence obligations for banks would increase compliance costs while providing only minimal benefit to law enforcement, according to industry comment letters.
The U.S. Treasury Department said Wednesday that it was considering imposing customer due diligence currently applied to private banking and correspondent accounts to all accountholders at depository institutions.