Money Laundering Fincen Needs To Better Communicate Regulatory Priorities And Time Lines Report To The Subcommittee On General Oversight And Investigations Committee On Banking And Financial Services House Of Representatives

Reviews the regulatory role of the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN), which is a Dept. of the Treasury organization to support law enforcement agencies by analyzing and coordinating financial intelligence information to combat money laundering. In 1994 FinCEN's anti-money laundering role was expanded to include responsibility for promulgating regulations under the Bank Secrecy Act (BSA). In 1994 Treasury was directed to take certain actions regarding the use of money transmitting businesses by criminals involved in money laundering. This report assesses FinCEN's efforts to issue regulations pursuant to the BSA.

"Money laundering and terrorist financing are serious crimes that affect not only those persons directly involved, but the economy as a whole. According to international standards, every bank has the obligation to know its customers and to report suspicious transactions. Although these obligations sound straightforward, they have proved challenging to implement. What information precisely has to be gathered? How should it be recorded? If and when does one have to file a suspicious transaction report? It is here that a supervisor can play a crucial role in helping supervised institutions; first, in understanding the full extent of the obligations of Customer Due Diligence and Suspicious Transaction Reports (STR) and, second, in ensuring that those obligations are not just words on paper but are applied in practice. Effective supervision is key to the success of a country's AML/CFT system. In this regard, field work in both developed and developing countries has shown an overall low compliance in the area of supervision of banks and other financial institutions; supervisory compliance is indeed generally lower than the average level of compliance with all Financial Action Task Force recommendations. As a result, by providing examples of good practices, this book aims to help countries better conform to international standards. In this regard, this handbook is specifically designed for bank supervisors.

Examines allegations that corrupt Russian groups & individuals have infiltrated Western fin'l. institutions. Witnesses: Vladimir Brovkin & Louise Shelley, Amer. Univ. Transnat. Crime & Corrupt. Ctr.; Arnaud deBorchgrave, Global Organized Crime Project, CSIS; Fritz Ermarth, former CIA Russian Analyst; Richard Palmer, former CIA Station Chief; Paul Saunders, Nixon Center; Yuri Shvets, former KGB agent; Lawrence Summers, Dept. of the Treasury; Anne Williamson, author; R. James Woolsey, former Dir., CIA; Thomas Renyi, Bank of NY; James Robinson, DoJ; Yuri Shchekochikhin, Member, Russian Duma; Anne Vitale, Rep. Bank of NY; & Karon von Gerhke-Thompson, 1st Columbia Co.