A long-negotiated economic treaty finalized Monday will require global banks to review billions of dollars in subsequent trade transactions for potential links to financial crimes, according to analysts.
Within the cargo containers lined along American ports and the semi-trailer trucks driven past U.S. border crossings, there is at times more than just goods en route to a profitable sale. Less detectable and often hidden within the paperwork, illicit value is an occasional stowaway.
There has been modest success in a decades-long effort to minimize the exploitation of gold. In many instances, money launderers have successfully transferred illicit proceeds through gold by simply tweaking its reported value in customs documents and other records.
The recent joint effort between the U.S. and Mexico in the arrest of Sinaloa Cartel head Joaquin "El Chapo" Guzman can be seen as a sign of renewed cooperation between investigators in both countries after a yearlong lull.
An expected U.N. plan to tackle illicit financial flows and other global problems could make curbing the manipulation of trade invoices an international priority.
Long considered one of the toughest illicit finance schemes to crack, trade-based money laundering is on the rise in response to stricter regulatory oversight of financial institutions, U.S. investigators said Monday.
State prosecutors along the U.S.-Mexico border are studying whether drug traffickers are acting as subagents for Mexican banks that front payments on behalf of American money services businesses.
The Mexican Finance Ministry Tuesday unveiled strict new limits on cash deposits of U.S. dollars in efforts to curb the flow of illicit cash into the financial system from drug traffickers.
Criminals are exploiting inadequate safeguards in free trade zones to launder money, evade taxes and illegally ship material used to build weapons of mass destruction, according to an intergovernmental group.
The decision by a London-based global bank to end its foreign currency exchange business in Mexico has had no long-term impact on curtailing money laundering, according to a U.S. report.
Mexico bolstered its anti-money laundering and counterterrorism financing regulations for banks Monday, requiring more stringent suspicious activity reporting and customer identification.
U.S. government investigators have become aware of a new subset of money laundering that takes advantage of the international market for professional services, according to a report issued by the U.S. State Department.
Mexican AML consultant Alberto Avila recently spoke with reporter Larissa Bernardes about FATF's mutual evaluation of Mexico and the budget challenges facing compliance departments in the Latin American country.
Financial institutions providing credit in international transactions should check for suspicious activity pointing to trade-based money laundering, a banking consortium said Thursday.
Mexican law enforcement agents are not adequately investigating money laundering despite an "unprecedented threat" to the country by drug cartels, an anti-money laundering watchdog said Tuesday.
The United States released $197 million in aid for equipment and training in Mexico, as part of a regional program to combat drug trafficking and terrorism, according to government officials.