AML

In the wake of a report that the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network has identified more than 50 credit unions at risk of serving as a conduit for money laundering activities, the CU trades and regulators alike were scrambling to respond to what the NCUA suggested could be a "regulatory blind spot."

Departing New York state regulator Benjamin Lawsky revealed the final version of the BitLicense, the regulatory framework for digital currency businesses his department has developed over the past 18 months.

The structuring law that former U.S. House Speaker Dennis Hastert stands accused of violating highlights how federal prosecutors use the banking system as leverage.

Discover Financial Services has entered into a written agreement with the Federal Reserve to improve its anti-money laundering procedures.

The Department of Justice is looking into whether the two dozen banks that facilitated bribes allegedly paid to FIFA officials knew they were doing so. The case is also a test of how much liability banks have over illegal payments they allow.

Financial messaging organization Swift opened its KYC registry to fund distributors and custodians Thursday.

The U.S. is examining banks' conduct as part of a wide-ranging corruption probe of international soccer that has netted charges against 14 people, including officials with the sport's organizing body.

California officials briefly raised hopes among digital currency proponents Friday by releasing a statement that they would drop plans to regulate digital currency businesses and instead defer to the legislature.

The Bancorp in Wilmington, Del., has again delayed the filing of its 2014 annual report and is also late in submitting its first-quarter results, it said in a news release Friday.

A recap of the informed opinions (and the discussions they generated) on BankThink this week, including the financial inequalities exposed by the Baltimore riots and whether the changes to Dodd-Frank proposed in Sen. Richard Shelby's regulatory relief plan go too far.

State Street Corp. said it expects to face an enforcement action by the Federal Reserve and the Massachusetts Division of Banks after it failed to comply with the Bank Secrecy Act, anti-money laundering rules and U.S. economic sanctions.

Vendors that specialize in Bank Secrecy Act compliance can help ease community banks' regulatory burden while strengthening their controls.

Global financial inclusion efforts have made big strides, but documentation requirements continue to hinder access to financial services, and women and the poor remain disproportionately underserved, according to the World Bank's annual study.

House Financial Services Committee Chairman Jeb Hensarling, R-Texas, issued subpoenas Monday for several federal agencies, asking for a trove of documents concerning ongoing investigations that he said they are obstructing.

A statement by a foreign regulator that it might penalize banks that drop businesses due to heightened supervisory risk has spooked U.S. institutions who worry domestic agencies could follow suit.

U.S. authorities have fined the San Francisco startup $700,000 over violations of the Bank Secrecy Act, according to the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network's Tuesday press release.

A recap of the informed opinions (and the discussions they generated) on BankThink this week, including a case for the CFPB's debt collection regulations and the dangers of "real-time" transaction monitoring.

Regulators' latest guide for examining anti-laundering procedures lacks wholesale changes, but institutions still must decipher minute changes with potentially big impacts.

For more than a decade, U.S. regulators have been advising bankers to know more about their customers than who they are. In the next five years that may become the global norm as technology allows more granular transaction monitoring.

A recap of the informed opinions (and the discussions they generated) on BankThink this week, including thoughts on derisking, biometric technology and Paul Volcker’s proposal to reform the regulatory system.