Prompted by signs that criminals are increasingly exploiting prepaid cards, federal and state investigators are turning to a handful of recent legal decisions to justify reading the value held on the instruments, sources say.
An apparent decision by White House officials to postpone the issuance of final rules governing the cross-border transport of prepaid access products has once again drawn criticism from U.S. lawmakers.
A congressionally-mandated plan to require U.S. border crossers to declare funds held on prepaid cards remains stalled at the White House more than a year after its submission for final review.
The theft of $45 million by cybercriminals exploiting and manipulating stolen prepaid card data highlights weaknesses in how financial institutions monitor the use of stored value products, say security experts.
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.
Lobbying by the world's largest stored value payment facilitator has indefinitely delayed, and perhaps permanently blocked, a plan to give customs officials the ability to read prepaid cards, say sources.
American officials will begin field-testing prepaid card readers at U.S. border stops next month as part of the lead-up to the Treasury Department regulations governing their cross-border transport, say officials.
A dearth of U.S. Treasury Department regulations governing the cross-border transportation of prepaid access products has hamstrung American efforts to combat Mexican drug-trafficking organizations, according to lawmakers.
Several banks are asking the U.S. Treasury Department's financial crimes bureau for the unthinkable: more anti-money laundering compliance responsibilities.
Proposed regulations by the U.S. Treasury Department on the prepaid card industry are raising questions and concerns among anti-money laundering compliance consultants on how the rules can be implemented and enforced.
The U.S. Treasury Department proposed Monday to place non-bank providers of prepaid access products into a distinct category of money service businesses in an effort to impose Bank Secrecy Act regulations on the prepaid card industry.
The U.S. Supreme Court okays the extradition of former Panamanian dictator Manuel Noriega, and a prominent Florida lawyer pleads guilty to bilking investors out of $1.2 billion in a massive Ponzi scheme, in this week's news roundup.
We never said compliance professionals had it easy, and 2010 doesn't look to be a year when things will be any better for the anti-money laundering and counterterrorism financing industry.
Nevada Senate Judiciary members Thursday approved a measure that would allow law enforcement officers to freeze, and in some cases seize, prepaid credit and stored-value cards without a warrant.
A U.S. Treasury Department ruling that clears merchants that reload stored value cards of Bank Secrecy Act compliance responsibilities may unfairly place that responsibility on bank sponsors of reloadable card programs, consultants say.
Banks that use third parties to manage and distribute their stored-value, or prepaid, cards must make sure Bank Secrecy Act compliance responsibilities are clearly designated, anti-money laundering compliance consultants say.