The Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (“FinCEN”) just issued a release, entitled “The Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN) Encourages Financial Institutions to Communicate Concerns Related to the Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) and to Remain Alert to Related Illicit Financial Activity.”  Given the topic and the simplicity of the release, this post merely provides the release in its entirety (including its footnotes and related links), without commentary — other than to sadly observe that whenever widespread and…

The District of Connecticut recently vacated a defendant’s convictions at trial for violating the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (“FCPA”) — but declined to similarly vacate his related money laundering convictions.  This case provides another example of how the money laundering statutes can be a particularly powerful and flexible tool for federal prosecutors, and how they can yield convictions even if the underlying offenses do not (and perhaps are not even charged). The case involves Lawrence…

Report Focuses on Anonymity, Real Estate Transactions and Complicit Lawyers Report Also Signals Upcoming AML Regulation for Certain Niche Institutions Second Post in a Two-Post Series In its 2020 National Strategy for Combating Terrorist and Other Illicit Financing (“2020 Strategy”), the U.S. Department of Treasury (“Treasury”) has laid out its AML and money laundering enforcement priorities. Last week, we blogged about the 2020 Strategy and focused on the document’s findings and recommendations for increased…

Plaintiffs Failed to Sufficiently Allege Knowledge or Recklessness by Company Concerning AML Compliance Problems, Despite Admissions Made by Company When Responding to Major Government Enforcement Actions  On February 25, 2020, the Tenth Circuit Court of Appeals upheld the dismissal of shareholders’ securities-fraud class action against the Western Union Company (“Western Union”) and several of its current and former executive officers based on the company’s alleged anti-money laundering (“AML”) compliance failings. The suit was filed in…

First in a Two-Post Series The U.S. Department of Treasury (“Treasury”) has issued its 2020 National Strategy for Combating Terrorist and Other Illicit Financing (“2020 Strategy”). This document sets forth the key priorities of the U.S. government regarding enforcement of the Bank Secretary Act (“BSA”), and the furthering of the government’s Anti-Money-Laundering (“AML”) and Combating the Financing of Terrorism (“CFT”) goals in general. It is lengthy document addressing numerous issues – albeit in a…

The Cayman Islands Receive “Top Honors.”  But, Global Financial Transparency is Reportedly Improving in General The United States has overtaken Switzerland as a financial secrecy haven, according to the latest rankings – the Financial Secrecy Index 2020 (“2020 Index”) – issued by the Tax Justice Network (“TJN”), which describes itself in part as an independent international network conducting research, analysis and advocacy on international tax and financial regulation and the impact of tax evasion and…