A federal letter asking money services businesses to turn over data on their agents marks the first broad U.S. effort in 14 years to better understand the scope of the fractured money transmitter market.
Money services businesses are jumping through a new hoop to prove they have adequate anti-money laundering programs: in response to demands from banks, they are turning over copies of the independent reviews of their programs meant for regulators.
The number of suspicious activity reports filed by U.S. money services businesses declined by eight percent in 2008, the first drop in such reporting by any financial sector since 1997.
Hardships in the financial industry are powering a second wave of banks dropping their money services business clients, which can require costly anti-money laundering vetting, say consultants.
Money remitters urged U.S. lawmakers Wednesday to develop a federal licensing and regulatory system for the industry that would provide clear guidance on how to comply with anti-money laundering laws.
A federal judge sentenced a digital currency company and its directors to three years of probation and a joint $300,000 fine after a plea deal on charges that the company had helped criminals launder money.
Bank of America has reportedly resumed offering banking services to money services businesses (MSBs), reversing a trend at the bank, and the industry as a whole, to drop money transmitters because regulators have labeled them as higher risk.
Financial institutions should be looking for signs that any of their armored car customers has become involved in check cashing, which would qualify them as money services businesses and subject them to BSA requirements.