FinCEN recently highlighted the work of a financial institution that involved Suspicious Activity Reporting and Currency Transaction Reporting as it pertains to true beneficiaries. In this case, the bad actors recruited heroin addicts to steal certain types of goods from stores in the Chicago area. They exchanged their stolen goods for cash from small stores [...]
This trade-based money laundering scheme involved shell companies in Mexico and the U.S. and batches of obsolete cell phones, generating more than $100 million in illicit funds. by Dayne Bloxham AdvisX When it comes to identifying suspicious transactional activity, knowing what to look for is half the battle. FinCEN recently highlighted an example [...]
by Ken Agle The more front line and BSA personnel understand about the how Suspicious Activity Reporting and Currency Transaction Reports fit into the overall equation of tracking down criminals, terrorists and other bad actors, the more likely it is for a financial institution’s BSA program to be effective. Understanding context helps keep BSA reporting [...]
Find out how you could have free ongoing access to AffirmX's complaint management solution. Would you describe the complaint management solution at your financial institution as (a) hopelessly complicated, or (b) something you make up as you go? We hear from more and more financial institutions that examiners are looking at how they're set up [...]
See below for information about how to get a free copy of the newly updated 2018 Record Retention Schedule... To shred, or not to shred – now that is the real question. Whether 'tis nobler in the mind to suffer the slings and arrows of an examiner who finds you shred too soon, or to [...]
In banking, disclosures matter, especially when it comes to credit cards. The rules, and they are not a few, are specifically spelled out in great detail. Where it can get a little fuzzy is when third parties enter the equation. This is especially true with third parties known as independent service organizations, or ISOs, as [...]
Though its probably been a year or two (or 10 or 20) since your school days, the idea still rings true that the best way to prepare for an examination is to know what is going to be on the examination. That was true in then, and it's true in a compliance examination, too. Spending time becoming [...]
A wave of cyber extortion appears to be heading our way. The question is no longer if it might hit, but when. The Federal Financial Institutions Examination Council released a statement warning financial institutions about the increasing frequency and severity of cyber attacks involving extortion. What do these attacks look like and what should you be [...]
While the overall number of Suspicious Activity Reports associated with crowdfunding is relatively low, the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network has found that mentions of crowdfunding in SAR filings increased 171% just through the first half of 2014 compared to all of 2013. Crowdfunding has become a new favorite tool in the hands of money launderers. [...]
When regulators discuss the root causes of the problems in a financial institution's Bank Secrecy Act and Anti-Money Laundering programs, invariably the cause that comes out at the top of their list is a weak culture of compliance. These points come from an advisory by FinCEN, the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network. The regulatory agencies have found [...]
