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Terror Lawsuits Against Banks Likely to Mushroom in 2009, Beyond
By Brian Monroe
printThe number of lawsuits against banks accused of providing financial services to designated terrorist groups may increase by more than fourfold this year, say terrorism analysts and attorneys. Since 2001, victims of terrorist attacks and their family members have filed several dozen lawsuits against banks they say knowingly skirted U.S. sanctions to operate accounts for terrorist affiliates. The claimants in the cases have cited a U.S. anti-terrorism law that allows for triple damages, and have asked for as much as $1 trillion. While banks-including UBS, American Express and Royal Bank of Scotland-have repeatedly denied wrongdoing in the still unresolved cases,...
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A pair of civil complaints relying on a Colombian insurgent group's ties to Hezbollah could prompt a rise in similar lawsuits and related subpoenas sent to banks, according to legal experts.
The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit will soon consider a lower court ruling that denied a claim made by terror victims against Iranian funds on the grounds they had been moved out of the United States.
The U.S. House of Representatives Tuesday unanimously passed a bill aimed at foreign banks that provide financial services to Hezbollah, an Iran-backed, Lebanon-based Shiite militant group.
A transactional data handover mandated under a $102 million settlement disclosed Tuesday between the U.S. Justice Department and a defunct Beirut bank will likely lead to new financial crime investigations.
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.
A decision by the U.S. Second Circuit Court of Appeals affirming sanctions against Jordan's largest bank for not turning over data on suspicious accounts could leave some financial institutions with an unwanted choice, say attorneys.
The U.S. Treasury Department Friday fined a Sioux Falls, SD bank branch $10 million for not properly reporting instances of suspected structuring and terrorist financing.
An opinion by New York State's highest court could reanimate lawsuits against foreign banks alleged to have maintained accounts for blacklisted terrorist groups, even when the institutions have no physical U.S. presence.
Increases in the rates that U.S. states tax cigarette purchasers has led to a rise in tobacco smuggling by organized crime groups and terrorist financiers, say governmental officials.
U.S. officials have launched a criminal investigation after linking data seized at Osama bin Laden's compound in Abbottabad, Pakistan to a Bank Secrecy Act report, counterterrorism investigators said Monday.
More than a dozen lawsuits against banks that allegedly provided accounts for terrorist organizations have stalled in court over the past five years, with none yet getting a trial date, court documents show.
A federal court's dismissal of a two-year old lawsuit against five Lebanese banks for allegedly providing financial services to Hizbollah could impact lawsuits against other banks facing similar cases.
The dismissal last month of a $500 million civil lawsuit against UBS AG for allegedly contributing to terrorist attacks won't impact rulings on similar lawsuits against other banks, say analysts.
A federal ruling that equates making contributions to non-violent affiliates of terror organizations with aiding terrorist acts could mean a wave of lawsuits for charities and banks, say analysts.
A group of 90 American, Israeli and Canadian citizens are suing American Express Bank and Lebanese Canadian Bank for $650 million, alleging the institutions provided financial services to blacklisted terror group Hizbollah.
Four Canadians are suing the Montreal branch of Lebanese-Canadian Bank, alleging that the institution knowingly provided financial services to Hizbollah, an organization blacklisted internationally for terrorism.
Israeli lawyer Itsana Nitsana Darshan-Leitner, who represents victims of terrorism in lawsuits against banks, spoke recently with Fortent Inform reporter Brian Orsak about the suits and what banks should be doing to better monitor for terrorists attempting to exploit the financial system.
Swiss bank UBS faces its second civil lawsuit in five months for allegedly processing transactions tied to Middle Eastern terrorist organizations. Plaintiffs in the suit say the bank should pay no less than $500 million for providing financial services to Iran, a "state sponsor of terrorism"
Plaintiffs charge in the lawsuit that Switzerland-based UBS knowingly provided financial services for Hamas, a Palestinian political organization blacklisted in the U.S. for terrorism since 1995. The group is purportedly responsible for 2004 bombing in Bethlehem that resulted in 11 deaths.
A ruling against National Westminster Bank in a lawsuit claiming it knowingly provided services to terrorists could make financial institutions reluctant to openly endorse anti-money laundering standards or best practices that are not legally binding, compliance consultants say.