Pending U.S. legislation intended to curtail the misuse of federal asset forfeiture powers could dissuade law enforcement officials from pursuing some civil seizures linked to suspected criminal activity, experts say.
An intergovernmental group's revised expectations of how countries should seize looted assets may prove difficult to meet, and could lower the mutual evaluation scores nations receive for their anti-money laundering controls.
Critics of an influential organization that sets international standards on anti-money laundering and counterterrorism financing compliance are questioning whether it evaluates its members fairly.
U.S. banks will face additional freeze orders and banking data requests from federal prosecutors when a new asset-freezing measure adopted Wednesday by U.S. lawmakers takes effect next year, say analysts.
Governments should ramp up their efforts to investigate and prosecute money launderers, including by providing additional powers and resources to local law enforcement, an international watchdog group said.
Inconsistent international forfeiture laws continue to hamper global asset forfeitures, according to Stefan D. Cassella, chief of the Asset Forfeiture and Money Laundering section of the U.S. Attorney's Office in Maryland.
For many, the question of whether it's easier to anonymously form a shell company in a Group of 20 country or a blacklisted tax haven will seem to have an obvious answer. Many would be wrong, however, according to a recent study.
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