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Treasury details response to illicit finance threats of money laundering, terrorism

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Treasury details response to illicit finance threats of money laundering, terrorism
  • US Treasury releases report on illicit finance.
  • Prosecution of Binance held up as example of success.
  • Investment needed to train enforcement professionals.

The US Department of the Treasury this week released its 2024 report on illicit finance, examining threats of money laundering and terrorist financing and its strategies to combat them.

The Treasury cited professional money launderers, financial fraudsters, cybercriminals and those seeking to finance terrorism as ongoing threats to the US financial system.

The 44-page report said anti-money laundering/countering the financing of terrorism (AML/CFT) efforts must continue to adapt in order to be effective.

Among the vulnerabilities cited were obfuscation tools and methods such as mixers and anonymity-enhancing coins, AML/CFT compliance deficiencies at banks and complicit professionals who help facilitate illicit financial activity.

The Treasury cited the prosecution of Binance as an example of its success in supervising virtual asset activities.

Binance failed to prevent criminals, sanctioned entities, and other bad actors from laundering billions of dollars in dirty money, according to court papers. The company pleaded guilty and agreed to pay $4.3 billion in fines and restitution, DL News reported.

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Additionally, Binance co-founder Changpeng Zhao was sentenced to four months in federal prison for violating US banking laws and fined $50 million.

The US must continue “to invest in technology and training for analysts, investigators, and regulators to develop further expertise related to new technologies, including analysis of public blockchain data,” the report said.

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Such expertise is crucial to the government’s ability to develop responses to new ways in which criminals misuse “virtual assets and other new technologies to profit from their illicit activity,” it said.

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Fed’s Barr Warns Bank Deregulation Threatens Financial Stability | PYMNTS.com

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Fed’s Barr Warns Bank Deregulation Threatens Financial Stability | PYMNTS.com

Recent moves by the Federal Reserve and other banking regulators to weaken regulation and supervision of banks threaten to undermine the safety and soundness of the financial institutions and increase financial stability risks, Federal Reserve Gov. Michael S. Barr said in a recent speech.

Speaking Saturday (June 6) at American University in Washington, D.C., Barr pointed to what he described as decreases in capital requirements, lighter-touch bank supervision, a potential push for lower liquidity requirements and declines in consumer protection.

“Taken together, the regulatory and supervisory changes recently enacted or proposed represent the most significant deregulation of the banking system since the Global Financial Crisis,” Barr said. “They tip the imperative balance that must be maintained between openness and innovation, on the one hand, and safety and soundness, on the other, in a way that will increase the risks of financial instability.”

“I have voted against these changes, and I feel it is also my duty to continue to speak about them and explain that the costs they impose, in the form of risk, greatly outweigh the promised benefits of a lighter regulatory burden,” Barr said.

Barr also highlighted what he described as growing risks in the nonbank sector and said these risks require a strong banking sector.

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Some have argued that the banking sector should be deregulated so it can better compete with private credit and other nonbanks, but the sector needs improved regulation to protect banks from their exposure to nonbanks, Barr said.

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Banks are exposed to nonbanks through credit lines and asset-holding commonalities, he said.

“What all of this means is that we need strong banks at the core of the financial system to deal with shocks, including from nonbanks,” Barr said. “Dealing with those shocks requires robust capital and liquidity, and loosening bank regulatory standards moves in the opposite direction.”

“Bank deregulation can also lead to a race to the bottom,” Barr said. “If the goal is greater overall safety, it is perverse to relax safeguards. Deregulating banks so that they can better compete with nonbanks may lead to even more risk-taking by nonbanks. The answer is thus not to regulate banks less, but to regulate unsafe practices at nonbanks more.”

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Exclusive: U.S. bank regulators ramp up scrutiny of AI use at financial companies

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Exclusive: U.S. bank regulators ramp up scrutiny of AI use at financial companies
U.S. banking regulators are stepping up scrutiny of how lenders deploy artificial intelligence as the developing technology sweeps through the industry, pressing firms on everything from data access and governance controls ​to risks posed by third-party vendors, according to people familiar with the situation.
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Crime Stoppers of Michigan could shut down while in dire financial straits

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Crime Stoppers of Michigan could shut down while in dire financial straits

Crime Stoppers of Michigan is in jeopardy. The anonymous crime tipline, responsible for helping solve countless cases, needs a financial fix and fast.

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FOX 2 got a pretty frantic call from Detroit police brass Thursday morning to explain what was going on with Crime Stoppers, and essentially they told us the nonprofit is in dire financial straits.

Since then, we have learned that if Crime Stoppers of Michigan doesn’t raise upwards of $250,000 by July 1, they’re going to cut almost all of their services, specifically, 90% of their services.

The only thing that would remain is the anonymous tip line you know it: 1-800-SPEAK-UP.

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By the numbers:

They generate 5,000 anonymous tips a year, but a bulk of their work is elsewhere. This cut would mean no additional services for victims of crimes.

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No press conferences. No posters. No community events.

“Sometimes I think people see the press conferences, the posters or the social media, and they forget there’s a mother, there’s a father, there’s a child. They have no clue what’s going on, and they’re seeking help from us, saying, ‘Please help us, please do something,’” said Dan DiBardino, President & CEO of Crime Stoppers.

A huge chunk of those 5,000 tips goes to Detroit police. They could be seriously affected by this if Crime Stoppers folds.

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