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  • U.S. enforcement authorities seize $3.7 million, arrest 281 for involvement in Business Email Compromise schemes

    Financial Crimes

    On September 10, the DOJ announced a coordinated effort with the U.S. Department of Homeland Security, the U.S. Department of the Treasury, the U.S. Postal Inspection Service, and the U.S. Department of State, against a series of Business Email Compromise (BEC) scams. The effort was conducted over a four-month period, resulting in the seizure of nearly $3.7 million and the arrest of 281 individuals in the U.S. and overseas, including 167 in Nigeria, 18 in Turkey and 15 in Ghana, along with arrests in France, Italy, Japan, Kenya, Malaysia, and the U.K. According to the DOJ, “BEC, also known as ‘cyber-enabled financial fraud,’ is a sophisticated scam often targeting employees with access to company finances and businesses working with foreign suppliers and/or businesses that regularly perform wire transfer payments.” BEC scams can involve requests for paper checks and may not actually “compromise” an email account or computer network. The DOJ notes that many BEC scams are perpetrated by foreign citizens, who are often members of transnational criminal organizations.

    As previously covered by InfoBytes, the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN), in July, discussed efforts designed to restrict and impede Business Email Compromise (BEC) scammers and other illicit actors who profit from email compromise fraud schemes and issued an updated advisory, providing general trends in BEC schemes, information concerning the targeting of non-business entities, and risks associated with the targeting of vulnerable business processes.

    Financial Crimes Fraud DOJ Department of Treasury Of Interest to Non-US Persons Enforcement FinCEN

  • FinCEN division will investigate global money-laundering threats

    Financial Crimes

    On August 28, the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN) announced a new division intended to investigate global money laundering threats. The Global Investigations Division (GID)—led by Matthew Stiglitz, a former senior official in the Department of Justice’s Criminal Division—will target activities such as weapons of mass destruction proliferation, rogue state actors, transnational organized crime, and narcotics trafficking. According to FinCEN, GID will utilize the agency’s Bank Secrecy Act authorities, including Section 311 of the USA PATRIOT Act, to combat both domestic and international illicit terrorist finance and money laundering threats.

    Financial Crimes FinCEN Of Interest to Non-US Persons Bank Secrecy Act Anti-Money Laundering Patriot Act

  • OFAC and FinCEN target synthetic opioids

    Financial Crimes

    On August 21, the U.S. Treasury Department's Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) and Treasury’s Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN) announced coordinated actions related to the manufacturing, selling, or distribution of synthetic opioids or their precursor chemicals. OFAC identified two Chinese nationals, a trafficking organization, and a related entity as “significant foreign narcotics traffickers” pursuant to the Foreign Narcotics Kingpin Designation Act, for running “an international drug trafficking operation that manufactures and sells lethal narcotics, directly contributing to the crisis of opioid addiction, overdoses, and death in the United States.” OFAC notes that, in August 2018, the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Northern District of Ohio unsealed an indictment, which charged one of the Chinese nationals and his father with operating a conspiracy that allegedly manufactured and shipped deadly fentanyl analogues, cathinones, and cannabinoids to at least 37 U.S. states. Additionally, in September 2017, the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of Mississippi indicted another significant foreign narcotics trafficker on two counts of conspiracy to manufacture and distribute multiple controlled substances, including fentanyl, and seven counts of manufacturing and distributing the drugs in specific instances. As a result of the sanctions designation, “all property and interests in property of these individuals and entities that are in the United States or in the possession or control of U.S. persons must be blocked and reported to OFAC.”

    Additionally, FinCEN released an advisory alerting financial institutions to financial schemes related to the trafficking of fentanyl and other synthetic opioids. The advisory provides detailed explanations of the funding mechanisms associated with fentanyl trafficking patterns, including (i) purchases from a foreign source of supply made using money services businesses (MSBs), bank transfers, or online payment processors; (ii) purchases from a foreign source of supply made using convertible virtual currency (CVC); (iii) purchases from a U.S. source of supply made using a MSB, online payment processor, CVC, or person-to-person sales; and (iv) more general money laundering mechanisms associated with procurement and distribution. The advisory also provides a list of red flags financial institutions should be aware of that may assist in identifying suspected schemes related to illicit fentanyl trafficking. Lastly, the advisory reminds financial institutions of their regulatory obligations to combat illicit financing and anti-money laundering, such as due diligence obligations, customer identification, and suspicious activity reporting.

    Financial Crimes Of Interest to Non-US Persons OFAC Sanctions FinCEN Anti-Money Laundering Fintech

  • FinCEN director discusses gaming industry AML compliance

    Financial Crimes

    On August 13, Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN) Director Kenneth Blanco delivered remarks at the 12th Annual Las Vegas Anti-Money Laundering Conference stressing the need for compliance within the gaming industry, particularly as new technologies emerge such as mobile gaming and the use of convertible virtual currencies (CVC) increases. With the U.S. Supreme Court issuing a decision in May holding that states can legalize sports gambling (previously covered by InfoBytes here), Blanco stated that casinos need to consider ways to integrate their sports betting programs—including mobile sports betting apps—into their existing anti-money laundering programs. These measures must include establishing and implementing procedures for detecting and reporting suspicious activities, Blanco noted, reminding the audience of FinCEN’s FAQs designed to assist financial institutions when reporting cyber indicators and cyber-enabled financial crime.

    Blanco also discussed FinCEN’s work with respect to cybersecurity and virtual payments, noting, among other things, that both online and physical casinos that accept CVC need to consider how they review transactions to determine the source of the currency and recognize indicators of suspicious activity. Blanco referred casinos to consolidated guidance issued by FinCEN in May (previously covered by InfoBytes here), and expressed a concern that “CVC-related SAR filings by casinos have not been as robust as expected since the May CVC guidance and advisory were published.” He further stressed the importance of information-sharing between casinos, and highlighted that sharing SARs can contribute to the identification of suspicious transactions as well as Bank Secrecy Act compliance responsibilities.

    Financial Crimes FinCEN Anti-Money Laundering Bank Secrecy Act Sports Betting Virtual Currency Fintech SARs

  • Federal banking agencies and FinCEN issue statement on risk-focused BSA/AML examinations

    Agency Rule-Making & Guidance

    On July 22, the Federal Reserve Board, FDIC, NCUA, and the OCC along with the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN), released a joint statement to improve transparency of their risk-focused approach to Bank Secrecy Act/anti-money laundering (BSA/AML) supervision. The statement outlines common practices for assessing a bank’s risk profile, including (i) leveraging available information, including internal BSA/AML risk assessments, independent audits, and results from previous examinations; (ii) contacting banks between examinations or before finalizing the scope of an examination; and (iii) considering the bank’s ability to identify, measure, monitor, and control risks. Examiners will use the information from the risk assessments to scope and plan the examination, as well as to evaluate the adequacy of the bank’s BSA/AML compliance program. The statement notes that the extent of examination activities needed to evaluate a bank’s BSA/AML compliance program, “generally depends on a bank’s risk profile and the quality of its risk management processes.”

    Agency Rule-Making & Guidance FDIC OCC NCUA Federal Reserve FinCEN Financial Crimes Bank Secrecy Act Anti-Money Laundering Supervision Examination

  • FinCEN addresses efforts to counter business email compromise schemes

    Agency Rule-Making & Guidance

    On July 16, the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN) discussed efforts designed to restrict and impede business email compromise (BEC) scammers and other illicit actors who profit from email compromise fraud schemes. BEC schemes, FinCEN reports, generally involve “criminal attempts to compromise the email accounts of victims to send fraudulent payment instructions to financial institutions or business associates in order to misappropriate funds or to assist in financial fraud.” An updated advisory provides current operational definitions and general trends in BEC schemes, information concerning the targeting of non-business entities and data by these types of schemes, and risks associated with the targeting of vulnerable business processes. The advisory also discusses opportunities for information sharing between financial institutions concerning subjects and accounts affiliated with BEC schemes in the interest of identifying risks of fraudulent transactions and money laundering. An in-depth strategic Financial Trend Analysis of Bank Secrecy Act (BSA) data explores industries targeted by BEC scammers as well as employed methodologies, and highlights BSA information collected by regulated financial institutions. Suspicious activity report highlights reveal a nearly tripling of attempted BEC thefts—from $110 million per month in 2016 to $301 million per month in 2018 on average. FinCEN’s release also discusses its Rapid Response Program as well as international information sharing initiatives addressing BEC schemes and associated fraudulently-induced transactions.

    Agency Rule-Making & Guidance FinCEN Fraud Anti-Money Laundering Of Interest to Non-US Persons

  • CFPB updates advisory on elder financial exploitation

    Federal Issues

    On July 17, the CFPB issued an updated advisory to financial institutions with information on the financial exploitation of older Americans and recommendations on how to prevent and respond to such exploitation. The update urges financial institutions to report to the appropriate authorities whenever they suspect that an older adult is the target or victim of financial exploitation, and recommends that they also file Suspicious Activity Reports (SARs) with the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN). The update builds on an advisory that was previously released by the Bureau in March 2016 (covered by InfoBytes here), which included recommended best practices to help prevent and respond to elder financial exploitation, such as (i) establish protocols for ensuring staff compliance with the Electronic Fund Transfer Act; (ii) train staff to detect the warning signs of financial exploitation and respond appropriately to suspicious events; and (iii) maintain fraud detection systems that provide analyses of the types of products and account activity associated with elder financial exploitation. With the release of the update, Director Kraninger noted that, “[t]he Bureau stands ready to work with federal, state and local authorities and financial institutions to protect older adults from abusive financial practices that rob them of their financial security.”

    As previously covered by InfoBytes, in February, the CFPB’s Office of Financial Protection for Older Americans, released a report studying the financial abuse reported in SARs, discussing key facts and trends revealed after the Bureau analyzed 180,000 elder exploitation SARs filed with the FinCEN from 2013 to 2017. Key findings of the report included, (i) SARs filings on elder financial abuse quadrupled from 2013 to 2017, with 63,500 SARs reporting the abuse in 2017; (ii) the average amount of loss to an elder was $34,200, while the average amount of loss to a filer was $16,700; and (iii) more than half of the SARs involved a money transfer.

    Federal Issues CFPB Elder Financial Exploitation SARs FinCEN EFTA Compliance

  • FinCEN updates list of FATF-identified jurisdictions with AML/CFT deficiencies

    Financial Crimes

    On July 12, the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN) issued an advisory reminding financial institutions that on June 21, the Financial Action Task Force (FATF) updated two documents that list jurisdictions identified as having “strategic deficiencies” in their anti-money laundering and combating the financing of terrorism (AML/CFT) regimes. The first document, the FATF Public Statement, identifies two jurisdictions, the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea and Iran, that are subject to countermeasures and/or enhanced due diligence due to their strategic AML/CFT deficiencies. The second document, Improving Global AML/CFT Compliance: On-going Process, identifies the following jurisdictions with strategic AML/CFT deficiencies that have developed an action plan with the FATF to address those deficiencies: the Bahamas, Botswana, Cambodia, Ethiopia, Ghana, Pakistan, Panama, Sri Lanka, Syria, Trinidad and Tobago, Tunisia, and Yemen. Notably, Serbia has been removed from the list and Panama has been added since the last update in March (covered by InfoBytes here). FATF further notes that several jurisdictions have not yet been reviewed, and that it “continues to identify additional jurisdictions, on an ongoing basis, that pose a risk to the international financial system.” Generally, financial institutions should consider both the FATF Public Statement and the Improving Global AML/CFT Compliance: On-going Process documents when reviewing due diligence obligations and risk-based policies, procedures, and practices.

    Financial Crimes Of Interest to Non-US Persons FATF FinCEN Anti-Money Laundering Combating the Financing of Terrorism

  • FinCEN announces innovation hours program

    Financial Crimes

    On May 24, the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN) announced a new program that will provide opportunities for fintech/regulatory technology companies and financial institutions to showcase new and emerging innovative approaches for combating money laundering and terrorist financing and to demonstrate how other financial institutions could use similar technologies. The FinCEN Innovation Hours Program will accept meetings once per month, with primary consideration given to entities that are already operational. According to FinCEN, the program is part of a broader initiative introduced last year (previously covered by InfoBytes here and here) that encourages banks and credit unions to explore innovative approaches such as artificial intelligence, digital identity technologies, and internal financial intelligence units to combat illicit financial threats, as well as collaborative arrangements to share resources and enhance the effectiveness and efficiency of Bank Secrecy Act/anti-money laundering compliance programs.

    Financial Crimes FinCEN Of Interest to Non-US Persons Bank Secrecy Act Anti-Money Laundering Fintech

  • Agency officials urge Congress to create central repository to combat money laundering

    Federal Issues

    On May 21, the Senate Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs held a hearing entitled “Combating Illicit Financing By Anonymous Shell Companies Through the Collection of Beneficial Ownership Information.” The Committee heard from the same panel of witnesses who testified in November on the need for modernization of the Bank Secrecy Act/Anti-Money Laundering regime. (Covered by InfoBytes here.) Committee Chairman Mike Crapo opened the hearing by stressing the need to discuss ways in which beneficial ownership information collected in an effort to deter money laundering and terrorist financing through anonymous shell companies can be made more useful. Panelists from the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network, the FBI, and Office of the Comptroller of the Currency all emphasized the importance of creating a regime in which beneficial ownership is collected at the corporate formation stage and, for foreign entities, upon the time of registration with U.S. states to conduct business or upon establishing an account with a U.S. financial institution.

    Federal Issues Senate Banking Committee FinCEN Beneficial Ownership Financial Crimes Department of Treasury OCC FBI Of Interest to Non-US Persons Anti-Money Laundering Combating the Financing of Terrorism CDD Rule Hearing

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