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In White House Budget Analysis, a Logjam for Prepaid Card Rule
By Colby Adams
printA 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. Despite having a copy of the proposed rule since February 2013, the White House's Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs (OIRA) has yet to complete a mandatory cost-benefit analysis of the potential regulation. Under a 1993 executive order, the agency has a 90-day window to review the 23-page rulemaking proposal. Mandated by the 2009 Credit Card Accountability Responsibility and Disclosure (CARD) Act, the proposed rule would amend the definition...
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A White House-imposed halt on federal regulations probably will slow the finalization of certain anti-money laundering and sanctions rules indefinitely but won't entail significant revisions or long-term delays to others, say sources.
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.
Government often moves slowly and (hopefully) deliberatively, but one might wonder whatever happened to those pre-paid card readers being tested along U.S. borders.
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.
Disputes and confusion over which companies will be responsible for anti-money laundering rules on stored value products has delayed federal registration and oversight of the sector, say industry representatives.
Displeased with proposed regulations, federal and state law enforcement officials are asking lawmakers and the U.S. Treasury Department to strengthen controls on the cross-border movement of prepaid access products.
Restricting transfers between unrelated individuals and requiring IDs to load value are among over a dozen ways financial institutions can limit compliance risks with prepaid access products, an association of banks said Friday.
The U.S. Treasury Department Tuesday prescribed new compliance rules on the prepaid product industry, a sector largely unregulated despite concerns about its vulnerability to money launderers.
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.
Senators chastised the U.S. Treasury Department Wednesday for delays in regulating prepaid access products that can be used to smuggle drug proceeds from the United States into Mexico.
The U.S. Treasury Department's proposals to better regulate prepaid access products fail to outline how the new rules will be implemented and enforced, according to a governmental watchdog group.
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.