On August 1, 2024, the Department of Justice launched its Corporate Whistleblower Awards Pilot Program (the “Pilot Program”). Under this 3-year initiative managed by DOJ’s Criminal Division, a whistleblower may be eligible...more
8/12/2024
/ AML/CFT ,
Anti-Money Laundering ,
Bank Secrecy Act ,
BSA/AML ,
Department of Justice (DOJ) ,
Financial Institutions ,
Financial Services Industry ,
Money Laundering ,
Pilot Programs ,
Terrorist Financing Regulations ,
Whistleblower Awards ,
Whistleblower Protection Policies ,
Whistleblowers
Today we are very pleased to welcome guest blogger Lili Infante, who is the CEO of CAT Labs – a tech company building digital asset recovery and quantum-resistant cryptography tools to fight crypto crime. Lili previously...more
3/29/2024
/ Anti-Money Laundering ,
Cryptoassets ,
Cryptocurrency ,
Cyber Attacks ,
Dark Web ,
Department of Justice (DOJ) ,
Digital Assets ,
Financial Services Industry ,
FinCEN ,
Money Laundering ,
U.S. Treasury
The Department of Justice (“DOJ”) has been very active in the Bank Secrecy Act (“BSA”) / Anti-Money Laundering (“AML”) space, as reflected by a recent series of individual prosecutions and corporate non-prosecution agreements...more
2/1/2024
/ Anti-Money Laundering ,
Bank Secrecy Act ,
Banks ,
BSA/AML ,
Casinos ,
Criminal Investigations ,
Criminal Prosecution ,
Department of Justice (DOJ) ,
Due Diligence ,
Enforcement Actions ,
Financial Institutions ,
Financial Services Industry ,
Guilty Pleas ,
Money Laundering ,
Non-Prosecution Agreements ,
Suspicious Activity Reports (SARs)
As the world now knows, Binance Holdings Limited, doing business as Binance.com (“Binance” or the “Company”), has entered into a plea agreement with the U.S. Department of Justice (“DOJ”)....more
11/27/2023
/ Anti-Money Laundering ,
Bank Secrecy Act ,
CFTC ,
Consent Order ,
Cryptocurrency ,
Department of Justice (DOJ) ,
Digital Assets ,
Enforcement Actions ,
FinCEN ,
Guilty Pleas ,
International Emergency Economic Powers Act (IEEPA) ,
Money Laundering ,
Money Services Business ,
Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) ,
Plea Agreements ,
Securities Act of 1933 ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) ,
Securities Exchange Act of 1934 ,
Suspicious Activity Reports (SARs)
The new Director of FinCEN, Andrea Gacki, addressed several key topics on October 3, 2023 at the Association of Certified Anti-Money Laundering Specialists (“ACAMS”) conference in Las Vegas, Nevada. Specifically, Director...more
10/9/2023
/ Advanced Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (ANPRM) ,
AML/CFT ,
Anti-Money Laundering ,
Bank Secrecy Act ,
Beneficial Owner ,
Broker-Dealer ,
BSA/AML ,
Corporate Transparency Act ,
Department of Justice (DOJ) ,
Financial Crimes ,
Financial Institutions ,
Financial Transactions ,
FinCEN ,
Investment Adviser ,
Money Laundering ,
Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (NOPR) ,
Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) ,
Recordkeeping Requirements ,
Reporting Requirements ,
Suspicious Activity Reports (SARs) ,
Whistleblowers
Complex Civil and Criminal Cases Converge -
On August 17, 2023, Judge Robert Pitman of the federal district court for the Western District of Texas issued an Order granting summary judgment for the U.S. Treasury Department...more
8/30/2023
/ Administrative Procedure Act ,
Decentralized Autonomous Organization (DAO) ,
Department of Justice (DOJ) ,
Digital Assets ,
Economic Sanctions ,
Fifth Amendment ,
FinCEN ,
First Amendment ,
Free Speech ,
International Emergency Economic Powers Act (IEEPA) ,
Money Laundering ,
Money Transmitter ,
Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) ,
Russia ,
SDN List ,
Takings Clause ,
U.S. Treasury ,
Virtual Currency
Yesterday, the Department of the Treasury announced that Andrea Gacki, who had been serving as the Director of the Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC), has been appointed as the Director of the Financial Crimes...more
7/14/2023
/ Administrative Agencies ,
Administrative Appointments ,
Anti-Money Laundering ,
Biden Administration ,
Corporate Transparency Act ,
Department of Justice (DOJ) ,
Financial Crimes ,
FinCEN ,
Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) ,
Popular ,
Regulatory Oversight ,
U.S. Treasury
Factual Statement Is a Tale of Whistleblowing, High-Risk Customers, and Misleading U.S. Banks -
Earlier this month, Danske Bank was sentenced in the Southern District of New York to three years of probation and forfeiture...more
On Friday, the Department of Justice (“DOJ”) announced two developments: First, the release of a 66-page report, The Role of Law Enforcement in Detecting, Investigating, and Prosecuting Criminal Activity Related to Digital...more
Federal law enforcement and regulators continue to focus on technology-driven financial crime — specifically, cyber-enabled fraud and the laundering of illicit funds through cryptocurrency. Last week, the Department of...more
On October 6, the Department of Justice (“DOJ”) announced the creation of a National Cryptocurrency Enforcement Team (“NCET”). The DOJ press release is set forth in part below, without further commentary, other than to...more
Incorporating in the Seychelles but Allegedly Operating in the U.S. Spells Trouble for Company and its Founders -
The Bitcoin Mercantile Exchange, or BitMEX, is a large and well-known online trading platform dealing in...more
10/13/2020
/ Anti-Money Laundering ,
Bank Secrecy Act ,
Bribery ,
BSA/AML ,
CFTC ,
Commodity Exchange Act (CEA) ,
Corporate Counsel ,
Cryptocurrency ,
Department of Justice (DOJ) ,
Digital Assets ,
Financial Institutions ,
Indictments ,
Know Your Customers ,
Registration Requirement ,
Suspicious Activity Reports (SARs) ,
Trading Platforms
Second of Two Posts on Evolving Issues Regarding Real Estate and Money Laundering -
In our last post, we blogged on a major regulatory tool to combat the use of real estate as a potential vehicle for money laundering: the...more
8/28/2020
/ Beneficial Owner ,
Bribery ,
Corruption ,
Department of Justice (DOJ) ,
Extraterritoriality Rules ,
Financial Institutions ,
FinCEN ,
Fine Art ,
Foreign Investment ,
Geographic Targeting Order ,
Law Enforcement ,
Luxury Goods ,
Money Laundering ,
Real Estate Investments ,
Shell Corporations
Law Enforcement Has Been Using GTO Data -
First of Two Posts on Evolving Issues Regarding Real Estate and Money Laundering -
The U.S. Government Accountability Office (“GAO”) has issued a report on the status and...more
8/26/2020
/ Anti-Corruption ,
Attorney-Client Privilege ,
Beneficial Owner ,
BSA/AML ,
Civil Forfeiture ,
Department of Justice (DOJ) ,
FATF ,
Financial Institutions ,
FinCEN ,
GAO ,
GTO ,
Law Enforcement ,
Mortgage Lenders ,
Real Estate Transactions ,
Suspicious Activity Reports (SARs)
Organization Excels at Niche Branding but Stumbles in Avoiding Enforcement -
The first paragraph of the press release sums it up:
Today the U.S. Treasury Department’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) took action...more
12/6/2019
/ Criminal Investigations ,
Criminal Prosecution ,
Critical Infrastructure Sectors ,
Cyber Crimes ,
Cybersecurity ,
Data Breach ,
Department of Justice (DOJ) ,
Enforcement Actions ,
Financial Crimes ,
Financial Transactions ,
FinCEN ,
Foreign Entities ,
Malware ,
Money Laundering ,
National Crime Agency (NCA) ,
National Security ,
Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) ,
Russia ,
U.S. Treasury
The European Union (“EU”) recently has grappled with a series of massive money laundering scandals and strategized about how to more effectively combat international money laundering and corruption. Generally, the EU has...more
9/18/2019
/ AML/CFT ,
AMLD V ,
Anti-Corruption ,
Bank Fraud ,
Beneficial Owner ,
BSA/AML ,
Corruption ,
Criminal Conspiracy ,
Cross-Border Transactions ,
Danske Bank ,
Department of Justice (DOJ) ,
Enforcement Actions ,
EU ,
EU Directive ,
FATF ,
Financial Crimes ,
Financial Institutions ,
Financial Transactions ,
Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA) ,
Guilty Pleas ,
Huawei ,
Individual Accountability ,
Internal Investigations ,
Money Laundering ,
Panama Papers ,
Policies and Procedures ,
Tax Evasion ,
Terrorist Financing Regulations ,
White Collar Crimes
The United States continues to be plagued by mass shootings, which appear to be increasing in both frequency and lethality. Certain businesses have reacted by adjusting their business models, such as the recent decision by...more
9/6/2019
/ Ammunition ,
Anti-Money Laundering ,
Bank Secrecy Act ,
BSA/AML ,
Department of Justice (DOJ) ,
FDIC ,
Federal Contractors ,
Financial Institutions ,
Financial Services Industry ,
Financial Transactions ,
Firearms ,
Gun Laws ,
Gun Manufacturers ,
Legislative Agendas ,
Mass Shootings ,
Operation Choke Point ,
Proposed Legislation ,
Regulatory Requirements ,
Risk Management ,
Second Amendment ,
Suspicious Activity Reports (SARs)
Attorney General Sessions Announces Rescission of Obama Administration Policies on Marijuana Enforcement; Financial Institutions Lose Grounds to Permit Financial Transactions with Marijuana Businesses....more
1/5/2018
/ Banking Sector ,
BSA/AML ,
Cole Memorandum ,
Criminal Prosecution ,
Decriminalization of Marijuana ,
Department of Justice (DOJ) ,
Dispensaries ,
Financial Institutions ,
Financial Services Industry ,
FinCEN ,
Marijuana ,
Marijuana Related Businesses ,
Medical Marijuana ,
Money Laundering ,
Policy Memorandums ,
Regulatory Standards ,
Suspicious Activity Reports (SARs) ,
Trump Administration
On Friday, the Department of Justice (“DOJ”) filed a civil forfeiture complaint in the Southern District of Texas seeking recovery of approximately $144 million in assets that allegedly represent the proceeds of foreign...more
7/19/2017
/ Bribery ,
Civil Forfeiture ,
Corruption ,
Department of Justice (DOJ) ,
Energy Sector ,
Extraterritoriality Rules ,
Government Officials ,
Money Laundering ,
Nigeria ,
Oil & Gas ,
Real Estate Market ,
White Collar Crimes
Part Two of a Three-Part Series -
In the second part of this series, we explore the practical effects of the FinCEN and DOJ guidance documents on industries attempting to serve marijuana related business (“MRBs”). On June...more
7/12/2017
/ Banking Sector ,
Banks ,
Controlled Substances Act ,
Decriminalization of Marijuana ,
Department of Justice (DOJ) ,
Dispensaries ,
FinCEN ,
Marijuana ,
Marijuana Related Businesses ,
Money Laundering ,
Retail Market
This post discusses individual liability in AML/BSA enforcement, which is an area of increasing attention. Indeed, according to public statements by the government, individual liability is the focus of enhanced scrutiny...more
5/19/2017
/ Banking Sector ,
Broker-Dealer ,
BSA/AML ,
Department of Justice (DOJ) ,
Derivative Suit ,
FinCEN ,
Fraud ,
Individual Accountability ,
Money Laundering ,
Money Transmitter ,
Moneygram ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) ,
Securities Violations ,
Suspicious Activity Reports (SARs) ,
Western Union ,
White Collar Crimes ,
Yates Memorandum
In this post, we consider the Department of Justice’s (DOJ) Office of the Inspector General report (OIG Report), released on March 29, 2017, evaluating the DOJ’s oversight of its cash seizure and forfeiture operations. This...more
4/12/2017
/ Asset Seizure ,
Civil Forfeiture ,
Criminal Investigations ,
Data Collection ,
DEA ,
Department of Justice (DOJ) ,
Forfeiture ,
IRS ,
Money Laundering ,
OIG ,
Tax Structuring
The U.S. money laundering statutes have a broad global reach and may be used to prosecute cases involving alleged schemes perpetrated almost entirely outside of the United States. These types of allegations seem to be an...more
The Western Union Company (“Western Union”) entered into a deferred prosecution agreement (“DPA”) on January 19th with the Department of Justice, based on alleged willful failures to maintain an effective AML program and the...more
2/10/2017
/ Anti-Money Laundering ,
Banking Sector ,
BSA/AML ,
Civil Monetary Penalty ,
Deferred Prosecution Agreements ,
Department of Justice (DOJ) ,
Enforcement Actions ,
Federal Trade Commission (FTC) ,
Financial Institutions ,
FinCEN ,
Money Laundering ,
Money Transfer ,
Suspicious Activity Reports (SARs) ,
Western Union ,
Wire Fraud
Under Internal Revenue Code section 7609(f), the IRS may issue a “John Doe” administrative summons to discover the identities of unknown taxpayers. A “John Doe” summons can be a powerful enforcement tool because it allows the...more
2/7/2017
/ Bitcoin ,
Department of Justice (DOJ) ,
Digital Currency ,
Enforcement Actions ,
Financial Institutions ,
Financial Services Industry ,
Internal Revenue Code (IRC) ,
IRS ,
John Doe Investigation ,
Money Laundering ,
Summons ,
Swiss Banks ,
Tax Evasion ,
Technology ,
Virtual Currency