Financial crimes

Fincen just proposed the most significant reform to AML compliance in a generation, but its reporting forms are still broken. A handful of key changes would meaningfully reduce compliance burden without reducing investigative value.

Banks weighing stablecoin partnerships need to know whose playbook regulators will endorse before another major crypto theft tests the question.

The Justice Department recategorized state and federally approved cannabis products from Schedule I to Schedule III, a move that falls short of full legalization but could ignite renewed interest from banks and credit unions in servicing state-legal cannabis businesses.

U.S. banks must navigate conflicting signals as Iran's crypto toll demands and rising pig butchering scams exploit the same stablecoin and correspondent banking rails.

The Treasury Department Wednesday proposed a set of rules that would require stablecoin issuers to abide by risk-based anti-money-laundering programs similar to those that banks must employ, as well as secondary market monitoring and independent testing by issuers. 

A TD Bank expert warned RSAC attendees that criminals use cheap printers, stolen data and AI to bypass identity verification in under five minutes.

A rumored executive order that would require banks to verify the citizenship of their account holders would be incredibly burdensome for banks. It would also result in the "debanking" of untold numbers of Americans.

The Financial Crimes Enforcement Network is charged with protecting the U.S. financial system, but its failure to implement a whistleblower program authorized in 2022 leaves the agency unable to capitalize on a key source of intelligence.

Jurors determined that Aaron Luneke, the former chief financial officer of Bank of the Valley in Nebraska, obtained millions of dollars in loans — including from his own bank — by inflating contractor bills for a new car wash business.

The criminal cases against these former 30 Under 30 honorees highlight the dangers of prioritizing hypergrowth narratives over proper due diligence.

Investors claim JPMorganChase collected fees while ignoring suspicious transfers linked to a $328 million crypto Ponzi scheme.

A new report from the Consumer Federation of America says the true cost of online scams is an estimated $119 billion per year; Associated Banc-Corp moves forward with its planned acquisition of family owned American National; Servbank HoldCo completes its acquisition of IF Bancorp; and more in this week's banking news roundup.

Before holding financial institutions accountable for new regulatory expectations, clearer guidance is needed on what constitutes appropriate risk-based decision-making versus impermissible "debanking."

The war may put a damper on bank mergers; and financial crime has become a global industry -- a big global industry

Criminals are using AI and professional crime networks to scale attacks, yielding massive operational risks for banks, according to a new report from Nasdaq.

A House subcommittee debated new legislation to improve bank data sharing and slow down transactions to thwart sophisticated financial scams.

Romance scams and other "pig butchering" frauds are growing rapidly. Should banks refund the stolen money? Not all agree on the answer to that question.

The Financial Crimes Enforcement Network's expectations of banks that file suspicious activity reports have changed. Some banking clients may soon discover that they are less appealing customers than they used to be.

As geopolitical threats loom, the U.S. needs a better-coordinated AML strategy. The Treasury Department's Financial Crimes Enforcement Network should take the lead in implementing needed reforms.

New York Attorney General Letitia James warns that scammers are coaching victims to bypass bank security and using "second act" schemes to steal more.