News
OFAC Asks Banks to Monitor for Middle Eastern Remitters Aiding Iran
By Brian Monroe
printThe U.S. Treasury Department is investigating Middle Eastern currency exchange houses and trading companies purportedly helping Iranians evade sanctions, officials said Thursday. The businesses have served as money transmitters by processing transactions through their commercial banking accounts, officials with the department's Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) said on a conference call. To circumvent international sanctions, the firms are intentionally omitting references to Iran in wire data fields, they said. "This is not a trend that is limited to one company," said OFAC Director Adam Szubin, during the call. "This is happening across a number of countries and companies that...
TO READ THE FULL STORY
Subscribe
Learn More
Related News
As U.S. officials and bankers debate the merits and drawbacks of an expected $10 billion sanctions settlement with BNP Paribas, their French counterparts are offering a more unified response: outrage.
The West's financial ties to Russia have given countries pause in considering further sanctions, a Roman judge dropped a money laundering case against the former head of the Vatican Bank and more, in this week's news roundup.
In announcing sanctions against Russian politicians and one bank Thursday, U.S. officials made clear that American financial institutions should prepare for more, and soon.
The financial clearing subsidiary of Deutsche Börse AG will pay the U.S. Treasury Department's sanctions enforcer $152 million for holding money in New York-based accounts on behalf of Iran's central bank.
The chairman of a Senate committee vowed Thursday to block additional sanctions against Iran in an effort to protect last month's multilateral accord to suspend portions of the country's nuclear program.
Lawmakers should press ahead with Iran sanctions bills despite pressure to put off new restrictions while American and Iranian officials hold nuclear talks, according to David Ibsen, executive director of United Against Nuclear Iran.
Amid all of the political rhetoric and bombast that accompanied television coverage of the 16-day government shutdown last month, one question never seemed to get any airtime: what did it all mean for the financial compliance industry?
JPMorgan Chase launches AML SWAT team as the bank's legal costs mount, Turkey blacklists over 350 entities in an effort to comply with United Nations sanctions, and more, in this week's news roundup.
Federal officials will weigh whether financial institutions can bank medical marijuana shops, New York's financial regulators asks two financial consultancies for data and more, in this week's news roundup.
Germany's BaFin is reportedly investigating potential AML violations by Deutsche Bank, a U.K. court could order the British government to pay millions to compensate a blacklisted Iranian bank, and more, in this midweek roundup.
The U.S. House of Representatives Wednesday approved legislation that would limit White House-granted waivers to nations that purchase oil from Iran under a 2011 sanctions law.
U.S. lawmakers will seek to advance a bill next week that would impose sanctions against companies that trade with Iran unless they agree to reduce their ties to the country within 180 days.
The U.S. Treasury Department has picked replacements for two recently vacated senior-level positions involved with the drafting of economic sanctions and anti-money laundering policies, according to an official.
High-profile sanctions cases are spurring large banks and third-party software vendors to improve how they identify when counterparts and clients secretly act on behalf of blacklisted entities, say compliance experts.
U.S. lawmakers will introduce sanctions legislation targeting North Korea's use of criminal proceeds and third-country banks that finance its nuclear program, members of the House Foreign Affairs Committee said Tuesday.
The U.S. Treasury Department's sanctions arm is gearing up to blacklist financial institutions secretly acting on behalf of Iran in an effort to bypass economic prohibitions, the agency's director said Wednesday.
Foreign financial institutions and other non-U.S. companies newly tasked with disclosing when their affiliates deal with Iranian government officials are finding the requirements onerous, according to compliance officers and consultants.
The government of Iran and banks under its influence are increasingly using investments in foreign financial institutions as a means to circumvent sanctions, including restrictions on interbank messages, say sources.
U.S. House lawmakers are working to introduce a new round of comprehensive sanctions against Iran by March in an effort to curtail the country's alleged nuclear weapons program, say sources.
New U.S. Treasury Department banking restrictions designed to hamstring Iran's nuclear program will curtail personal remittances and the ability to receive payments for licensed exports to the country, say analysts.