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Payment Processor Penalty Highlights AML Risks of Industry Middlemen

By Daniel Bethencourt

A $40 million penalty against one of the largest payment processors in the U.S. highlights the difficulty of monitoring their little-known intermediaries, independent sales organizations, for anti-money laundering purposes, sources told ACAMS moneylaundering.com. Third-party payment processors, most of which do not fall under the requirements of the Bank Secrecy Act, have nonetheless been the subject of enforcement actions against financial institutions for holding merchant accounts used in various fraud schemes. They have also played a crucial role as a financial intermediary for illicit adult-advertising websites such as Backpage, which partnered with Dallas-based processor JetPay and Bank Frick in Liechtenstein to...

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