AML

As Treasury cracks down on DeFi, observers say merging the worlds of traditional and decentralized finance is an increasingly impossible dream.

It remains to be seen what the capped price for Russian oil will be or whether the move will stabilize world energy prices.

The Biden administration is poised to put its stamp on the banking regulatory landscape, but there are few slam-dunk solutions that will satisfy both the industry and a vocal Democratic base.

The agency recently updated a policy document to include technological innovation as a top priority and said it was considering creating a safe harbor for those who develop new products to fight financial crimes.

A bipartisan group of senators Tuesday urged the Treasury Department and the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network to speed up implementation of the Corporate Transparency Act. It's only the latest of several efforts by lawmakers urging regulators to move faster since Fincen missed the statutory implementation deadline in January.

Deutsche Bank's offices in Frankfurt are being searched by law enforcement authorities over reports about potential money laundering that were filed by the lender.

Acting Director Himamauli Das acknowledged concerns from Democratic lawmakers that Fincen was moving too slowly to implement beneficial ownership rules but said the agency "will likely continue to do so, because our budget situation has required us to make significant trade-offs among competing priorities.”

Four of five bills aimed at countering Russian aggression in Europe won significant bipartisan support from the House Financial Services Committee on Thursday. But the panel adopted a bill intended to expand the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network's ability to hunt down Russian assets over fierce Republican opposition.

The impact of U.S. sanctions against Russia on U.S. banks has so far been limited. But further escalation could lead to anti-money-laundering compliance challenges and invite cyberattacks, among other consequences.

The U.S. Treasury Department is looking more closely at potential money laundering and the financing of terrorism through trading high-value art.