Congress passes defense bill with big ramifications for AML, whistleblowers

COMPLIANCE WEEK

Tucked into the $740 billion defense spending bill Congress approved Friday are several anti-money laundering (AML) provisions that could dramatically improve law enforcement’s ability to identify and prosecute criminals laundering money through the U.S. banking system.

The “National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2021” (H.R.6395) contains a provision (Section 6403) that will require corporations to identify who owns and controls them (i.e., beneficial ownership) to the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN) at the U.S. Treasury. The bill also includes a provision (Section 6314) that creates a new Bank Secrecy Act (BSA) whistleblower program at the Treasury. read more »

Federal Court Orders Interdealer Broker to Pay $7 Million for Deceptive Trading Practices in the FX Options Markets

CFTC

The Commodity Futures Trading Commission today announced the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York entered a consent order against defendants TFS-ICAP LLC and TFS-ICAP Ltd., interdealer brokers located in New York and London, requiring them to pay a $7 million civil monetary penalty for representing to clients bids and offers that had not been made, and for communicating to clients trades that had not occurred. In the order, TFS-ICAP admits that its employees engaged in the misconduct, known as “flying” prices and “printing” trades, that violated the Commodity Exchange Act (CEA), as charged. read more »