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Treasury Doesn’t Expect Enhanced Diligence for Countries on FATF Blacklist

By Kieran Beer

The U.S. Treasury Department doesn't expect financial institutions to treat the 28 countries blacklisted by an intergovernmental group last month for weak anti-money laundering controls as non-cooperating nations under U.S. Patriot Act rules. The list, released Feb. 18 by the Paris-based Financial Action Task Force (FATF), doesn't require that banks automatically conduct special due diligence on foreign correspondents from the designated countries, according to Jamal El-Hindi, associate director for regulatory policy and programs at the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN). "Those countries that are thought to have issues but are trying to cooperate, we wouldn't consider non-cooperative," said El-Hindi, speaking...

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