The Financial Crimes Enforcement Network today issued an alert on identifying and reporting suspicious activity tied to cross-border payments and a notice for financial institutions about exploitation of charities.
The alert urges financial institutions to remain vigilant on certain cross-border payments involving U.S.-based money services businesses. The document states that while MSBs provide important services to underserved populations, “the cross-border relationships that MSBs often maintain to make overseas money transmission possible may give rise to potential risks to the U.S. financial system.” It lists red flags that may indicate illicit activity.
The notice seeks to assist financial institutions in identifying and reporting suspicious activity involving the exploitation of domestic and international charities and nonprofit organizations for illicit activity. It notes that the U.S. government does not view the nonprofit sector as a whole as presenting a uniform or unacceptably high risk. Still, FinCEN urged financial institutions to apply a risk-based approach and determine whether they can effectively mitigate potential vulnerabilities relating to nonprofits by evaluating each organization individually.
