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With Nary a Bank in Sight, MSBs Try to Bank Themselves

By Selina Román

The banks in Juneau, Alaska, a summertime cruise mecca from May to September, won't bank Allyn Moore's money services business (MSB). Efforts by Moore to beef up his compliance program with a $45,000 anti-money laundering (AML) software program didn't help and he's had to turn away hundreds of customers, many of them crew members on the cruise ships, who relied on him to send money abroad. Moore's situation is not uncommon across the United States. Since regulators designated MSBs high-risk for money laundering and terrorist financing, banks have been dumping their accounts fearing regulatory backlash. Some MSBs, like Moore's, stuck...

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