Financial crimes

The Federal Reserve Board banned a former relationship banker in Arkansas after he was caught stealing customer funds; Benchmark Federal Credit Union plans to merge with Franklin Mint Federal Credit Union to form a $2.1 billion-asset institution; Robin Vince, CEO of Bank of New York Mellon since 2022, has been elected chairman of the board; and more in this week's banking news roundup.

Shell companies, stablecoin and a Bahaman bank that took orders from a gang of fraudsters all took part in a scheme that bilked U.S. victims of millions.

Congressional Democrats offered a bill Friday requiring the Treasury Department to apply the anti-money-laundering requirements of the Corporate Transparency Act more fully and help educate small businesses on how to comply with reporting of beneficial ownership information.

Maryland passes legislation to oversee the earned wage access industry; Truist Financial adds ex-Morgan Stanley Finance Chief Jonathan Pruzan to its board; The Citizens Bank agrees to buy a First Capital Bank branch in North Carolina; and more in this week's banking news roundup.

Upgrading its anti-money-laundering controls is the Canadian bank's top priority following historic failures that led to a $3.1 billion penalty and a U.S. asset cap.

Bribed overseas contractors accessed internal systems, triggering a monthslong breach with costs reaching up to $400 million.

As banks face mounting check fraud, a newly unsealed indictment reveals how one criminal ring exploited weak spots in the system.

Experts warn that stopping modern scams requires more than AI. It takes human oversight, customer engagement and cross-industry collaboration.

A Credit Suisse unit pleaded guilty to conspiring to help its customers hide more than $4 billion from the Internal Revenue Service in at least 475 offshore accounts.

The decision to stop requiring U.S. companies to report beneficial ownership information is misguided. The compliance burden could be substantially eased by collecting the data at the state level.

An administration willing to rethink longstanding regulatory norms could implement targeted reforms that unlock the potential for increased investment, innovation and job creation across the country.

A former TD Bank employee pleaded guilty to a felony in connection with a check-fraud scheme; EWA provider DailyPay filed a lawsuit against New York Attorney General Letitia James; First Citizens BancShares ended the shared-loss agreement it made with the FDIC after acquiring Silicon Valley Bank; and more in this week's banking news roundup.

Regulators said the payment company did not provide sufficient customer identification and monitoring, increasing risk for its transfer app. This week's fine follows earlier penalties in other states and the federal government.

Victims of a pig butchering scheme recently sued Qbit, a Solid customer that allegedly laundered millions of dollars through Solid accounts.

In a speech at the American Bankers Association Washington Summit Wednesday morning, Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent downplayed economic risks from tariffs, floated capital reforms and urged regulatory relief for community banks.

The decision to stop enforcing the Corporate Transparency Act, which requires the disclosure of the beneficial ownership of businesses, could make the U.S. an attractive environment for fraudsters.

Time and again, seemingly successful bank mergers have been rocked by revelations of poor anti-money-laundering compliance. Assessing the AML risk of a potential merger partner is extremely tricky.