On December 14, 2023, the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York (the “Court”) granted an unusual ex parte application to serve third-party discovery subpoenas on U.S.-based Deutsche Bank entities....more
1/5/2024
/ Anti-Money Laundering ,
Bank Secrecy Act ,
BSA/AML ,
Consent Order ,
Danske Bank ,
Deutsche Bank ,
Ex Parte ,
Financial Institutions ,
Financial Services Industry ,
International Litigation ,
Money Laundering ,
Subpoenas
Earlier this month, John Can Unsalan, the president of a steel-making company with ties to Russian oligarchs, pled guilty to one count of conspiracy to commit money laundering, based on financial transactions committed with...more
10/16/2023
/ Anti-Money Laundering ,
BSA/AML ,
Criminal Conspiracy ,
Enforcement Actions ,
Financial Crimes ,
Financial Institutions ,
Financial Transactions ,
Foreign Policy ,
Guilty Pleas ,
International Emergency Economic Powers Act (IEEPA) ,
Money Laundering ,
Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) ,
Popular ,
Russia ,
Sanction Violations
On July 28th, Senators Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass), Roger Marshall (R-Kan.), Joe Manchin (D-W.Va.) and Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.), reintroduced the Digital Asset Anti-Money Laundering Act (the “Act”), legislation aimed at closing...more
8/14/2023
/ AML/CFT ,
Anti-Money Laundering ,
Bank Secrecy Act ,
BSA/AML ,
CFTC ,
Corporate Transparency Act ,
Digital Assets ,
FBAR ,
Financial Crimes ,
Financial Institutions ,
Financial Regulatory Reform ,
FinCEN ,
Money Laundering ,
Money Services Business ,
NDAA ,
Proposed Legislation ,
Regulatory Agenda ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC)
Legislation Targets Unhosted Wallets, Validators and Digital Asset ATMs -
On July 28th, Senators Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass), Roger Marshall (R-Kan.), Joe Manchin (D-W.Va.) and Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.), reintroduced the...more
8/11/2023
/ AML/CFT ,
Anti-Money Laundering ,
Bank Secrecy Act ,
Banks ,
BSA/AML ,
Corporate Transparency Act ,
Cryptoassets ,
Cryptocurrency ,
Cyber Crimes ,
Digital Assets ,
Digital Wallets ,
Financial Institutions ,
FinCEN ,
Money Laundering ,
Money Services Business ,
Proposed Legislation ,
Regulatory Agenda ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC)
Report Offers Weak Insight on Causation but Lists Steps that Treasury Can and Should Take -
The Department of Treasury (“DOT”) recently released its first ever strategy report (the “Strategy”) on the topic of de-risking,...more
The Financial Action Task Force (“FATF”) Plenary was held on February 22-24, bringing together delegates from around the world to meet in Paris and discuss a variety of global financial crimes and ongoing risk areas. In a...more
Ruling Could Influence FinCEN in Forthcoming Regulations Under the CTA -
On November 22nd, an appeals court in Luxembourg issued a decision that highlights the tensions between anti-money laundering (“AML”) goals and...more
On September 8, the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (“OCC”) published an extension of its notice and request for comment (the “Notice”) in the Federal Register regarding changes to the OCC’s Money Laundering Risk...more
On June 6, Attorney General Merrick Garland (“AG”) issued a report titled “How to Strengthen International Law Enforcement Cooperation For Detecting, Investigating And Prosecuting Criminal Activity Related To Digital Assets”...more
Sanctions involving Russia is a front-burner issue for all businesses, but particularly for financial institutions. As we previously blogged, the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (“FinCEN”) issued on March 7 an alert...more
Consent Order Stresses that Only Three AML Analysts Struggled to Review 100 “Alerts” Per Day, Each – and Notes in Passing that “Outside Examiners” Blessed the Bank’s AML Program for the Same Five Years that the Bank Allegedly...more
Meaningful Overlap or Superficial Similarities?
On October 3, the release of the Pandora Papers flooded the global media, as millions of documents detailed incidents of wealthy and powerful people allegedly using so-called...more
Second Post in a Series on the FATF Plenary Outcomes -
As we blogged, last month the Financial Action Task Force (“FATF”) held its fourth Plenary, inviting delegates from around the world to (virtually) meet and discuss a...more
As we recently blogged, the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (“FinCEN”) issued an advance notice of proposed rulemaking (“ANPRM”) on April 5, 2021 to solicit public comment on the implementation of the Corporate...more
Fifth Post in an Extended Series on Legislative Changes to BSA/AML Regulatory Regime -
As we have blogged, the Anti-Money Laundering Act of 2020 (“AMLA”) makes major changes to the Bank Secrecy Act (“BSA”) and the U.S....more
On November 3rd, voters in Arizona, New Jersey, South Dakota, Montana, and Mississippi passed ballot measures to bring legal cannabis to each of their states. It’s not every year that we see states from opposite ends of the...more
First Post in a Three-Post Series Regarding Recent Regulatory Action by FinCEN -
The Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (“FINCEN”) has been busy. In the last two weeks, FinCEN has posted three documents in the Federal...more
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)
We are really pleased to presenting on July 9, 2020 to the National Association of Federally-Insured Credit Unions (“NAFCU”) on banking issues relating to cannabis. The cannabis and hemp industry continues to pose a...more
7/8/2020
/ Bank Secrecy Act ,
Banking Sector ,
BSA/AML ,
Cannabis Products ,
Credit Unions ,
Customer Due Diligence (CDD) ,
Farm Bill ,
Federal Bank Regulatory Agencies ,
FinCEN ,
Hemp ,
Hemp Related Businesses ,
NCUA ,
New Guidance ,
Suspicious Activity Reports (SARs) ,
USDA
A recent audit conducted by the Department of Justice (“DOJ”)’s Office of Inspector General (the “OIG”) revealed that the Drug Enforcement Agency (“DEA”) acted outside the scope of its authority while transacting tens of...more
6/23/2020
/ Dark Web ,
DEA ,
Department of Justice (DOJ) ,
Digital Currency ,
Drug Trafficking ,
Financial Crimes ,
Financial Transactions ,
Investigations ,
Money Laundering ,
OIG ,
Silk Road ,
Undercover Police
A Court Ruling that May Resonate Across the Globe -
The High Court in London recently struck down three “Unexplained Wealth Orders” that U.K. law enforcement had hoped would foil an alleged money laundering scheme by...more
4/17/2020
/ AML/CFT ,
Asset Seizure ,
Beneficial Owner ,
Corruption ,
Financial Crimes ,
Kazakhstan ,
Money Laundering ,
Politically Exposed Person (PEPs) ,
Real Estate Transactions ,
UK ,
UK Criminal Finances Act 2017 ,
Unexplained Wealth Orders (UWOs)
Last Thursday, FinCEN Deputy Director Jamal El-Hindi appeared at the 20th annual Anti-Money Laundering (AML) and Financial Crimes Conference hosted by the Securities Industry and Financial Markets Association (SIFMA) in New...more
2/13/2020
/ Anti-Money Laundering ,
Bank Secrecy Act ,
Beneficial Owner ,
BSA/AML ,
Cryptocurrency ,
Filing Requirements ,
Financial Crimes ,
Financial Institutions ,
Financial Transactions ,
FinCEN ,
Geographic Targeting Order ,
Information Sharing ,
Money Laundering ,
Regulatory Oversight ,
Regulatory Requirements ,
Securities Regulation ,
SIFMA ,
Suspicious Activity Reports (SARs) ,
Transparency