BAFT — ABA’s global transaction banking subsidiary — commented last week on the Basel Committee’s proposed revisions to its guidance on managing risks related to anti-money laundering and terror financing.
In a letter to the OCC yesterday, Rep. Blaine Luetkemeyer (R-Mo.) took the agency to task for its continued involvement in the Department of Justice’s Operation Choke Point, which seeks to curtail disfavored businesses by working through regulators to pressure financial institutions to end customer relationships.
Banks and regulators have a “shared responsibility to expand access to the financial system while protecting it from illicit activity,” Acting Treasury Under Secretary Adam Szubin said today at the ABA/ABA Money Laundering Enforcement Conference in Washington, D.C.
As promised by Comptroller of the Currency Thomas Curry last week, the OCC today released guidance articulating its expectations for banks with respect to terminating foreign correspondent relationships.
In response to the “derisking” trend in anti-money laundering and Bank Secrecy Act compliance, the OCC will soon issue guidance that articulates its expectations for banks to routinely evaluate risk in their foreign correspondent banking portfolios, Comptroller of the Currency Thomas Curry said today.
The Basel, Switzerland-based Financial Stability Board published a report recently outlining steps taken in response to a decline in the number of worldwide correspondent banking relationships — a sign of “derisking” as banks respond to stepped-up regulatory focus on anti-money laundering compliance.
Members of the House Financial Services Committee today raised concerns about the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency’s role in encouraging de-risking — a practice that involves a bank terminating business or correspondent relationships to avoid regulatory scrutiny.
FinCEN yesterday released the text of its long-awaited final customer due diligence rule, which is expected to be published in the Federal Register on May 11.
Sens. Ted Cruz (R-Texas) and Mike Lee (R-Utah) yesterday introduced an ABA-supported bill intended to rein in the Justice Department’s Operation Choke Point, which sought to curtail disfavored businesses by working through regulators to pressure financial institutions to end customer relationships with these businesses.
Lower risk doesn’t necessarily mean lower profits. Banks must proactively update their AML strategies to align with a growth trajectory.