Tweet The 2013 International Narcotics Control Strategy Report (“INCSR“) published this month by the U.S. Department of State, particularly volume I on the drug trafficking trade, is more favourable of Canada than the last two years, primarily as a result of the enactment in Canada of the Omnibus Crime Bill C-10, know as the Safe Streets […]
Tweet HSBC investigation The U.S. Permanent Senate Subcommittee on Investigations has found that HSBC Holdings PLC allowed drug traffickers, terrorists and rogue states to launder billions of dollars in the U.S. as a result of poor anti-money laundering (“AML“) and counter terrorist financing (“CTF“) controls. The Subcommittee found that HSBC serviced high-risk clients in drug-trafficking […]
Tweet A former bank official with the Chase Bank was convicted of disclosing the existence of a suspicious activity report to a bank customer. Frank Mendoza, who worked as a loss mitigation specialist for Chase Bank, conducted an investigation of a delinquent borrower on mortgage loans made in relation to seven properties in California. In […]
Tweet The Financial Crimes Enforcement Network has issued an advisory to U.S. financial institutions to take special precaution when dealing with funds from Tunisian politically exposed persons because of the increased money laundering risk if those funds are from the proceeds of crime (e.g., misappropriated or diverted State assets, proceeds of bribery, public corruption or […]
Tweet On September 30, 2010 one of the landmark abuse of dominance cases in Canada was settled after approximately four years of investigation by the federal Competition Bureau and negotiations with The Canadian Real Estate Association, one of the largest single industry trade associations in Canada. The Consent Agreement entered into between the Competition Bureau […]
Tweet The Institute for Works of Religion, commonly known as the Vatican Bank, has pledged to implement anti-money laundering legislation based on the FAFT Recommendations that would require it to report suspicious transactions, ascertain the identity of their clients, report large transactions and establish an anti-money laundering compliance regime. The Vatican Bank has also agreed to […]
Tweet HSBC Bank USA, N.A. has been ordered to improve its compliance with U.S. anti-money laundering laws. Under a Consent Order entered into with the U.S. Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC) and the Federal Reserve, HSBC must correct anti-money laundering problems identified by the OCC and bring itself into compliance with the Bank Secrecy Act (BSA) […]
Tweet FINTRAC, Canada’s financial intelligence unit, has assessed relatively minor penalties against two money services businesses. Sutlej Foreign Exchange Inc., an Ontario-based money services business, was fined $8,450 for failing to: have a written compliance plan; undertake a risk assessment for a compliance plan; train employees on anti-money laundering; report electronic funds transfers to FINTRAC; […]
Tweet The Royal Bank of Scotland has been fined £5.6 million by the UK regulatory agency for failing to implement key anti-money laundering requirements. The fine is the largest ever levied by the Financial Services Regulator. The Bank failed to adequately screen its customers and their transactions to ensure there were no ties to listed […]
Tweet Pamrapo Savings Bank, a subsidiary of Pamrapo Bancorp Inc., pleaded guilty in U.S. District Court in Trenton, New Jersey, to conspiracy to violate the Bank Secrecy Act for failing to file currency transaction reports and suspicious activity reports, and willfully failing to maintain adequate anti-money laundering programs. The failures to file reports were in […]