In a congressional hearing last May, sanctions experts outlined how gaps in U.S. and EU blacklists could let designated Iranians and other designees exploit the American banking system. But the witnesses failed to point out one important loophole in international sanctions: interbank cover payments.
The U.S. government's landmark case against HSBC Holdings Plc for knowingly turning a blind eye to financial crime is seemingly fated to end much as it began: complex and messy.
A U.S. Treasury Department proposal to sharply increase bank reporting of cross-border transactions would diminish the number of structuring cases prosecuted by the United States.
A U.S. Treasury Department plan to increase reporting on cross-border transactions would allow federal regulators and investigators to more easily detect unregistered money remitters - if they can sift through the data.
The Royal Bank of Scotland will pay the United States $500 million over Bank Secrecy Act and sanctions violations committed by the now defunct ABN Amro, U.S. officials said Monday.
An interim agreement allowing U.S. investigators continued access to European financial data in terrorism cases will likely be ratified in February by a skeptical EU Parliament, according to EU officials.
Canada's financial intelligence unit issued its largest monetary penalty to date in a week when U.S. bank regulators called on financial institutions to be more transparent in their cross-border transactions.
The United States and Canada will soon begin sharing more data on seized currency in an effort to crackdown on terrorist financing and other crimes, the Department of Homeland Security said Tuesday.
Banks should provide more detailed information on parties involved in cover payment transactions once a new interbank messaging system is implemented in the fall, according to an international banking committee.
The United Nations Tuesday released its finalized recommendations on how member states should draft legislation to combat money laundering and terrorist financing, including provisions to seize criminal assets.
Switzerland's largest bank will pay $780 million to the United States for helping 17,000 U.S. citizens evade paying taxes on offshore revenue, the U.S. Justice Department said Wednesday.
Lloyds TSB Bank Plc. has agreed to pay the United States $350 million to settle charges that it hid wire transfers with blacklisted companies, the largest sanctions-related penalty to date.
The U.S. Federal Reserve Bank and The Clearing House have told banks how to comply with new formatting procedures for cover payments wired internationally, the organizations said Monday.
Money services business advocates have been lobbying for state and federal regulators to give guidance on how to deal with unlicensed currency transmitters in Brazil, an effort they say is now paying off.
Mexican authorities took Mario Villanueva Madrid into custody June 21 as he left prison after completing a six-year sentence on a money laundering conviction. Villanueva, the former mayor of Mexicos Quintana Roo state, is wanted in New York on drug trafficking and money laundering charges.
The House Appropriations Committee said the funds were excluded because the Treasury Department hasnt decided whether to build the database and hasnt completed a planned cost-benefit analysis of the project.
A study of cross-border transactions in the Middle East issued by a regional task force disappointed anti-money laundering professionals who say it offers few strategies for combating the criminal schemes it identifies.
The Wolfsberg Group and Clearing House Association called for banking cooperative Society for Worldwide Interbank Financial Telecommuncation to change the payment instructions it handles to "promote the effectiveness of global anti-money laundering and anti-terrorist financing programs."