A Treasury Unit to Enforce New Anti-Money Laundering Laws in the US
A small bureau of the U.S Treasury Department will take a lead, over the next year, in filling out major gaps in the USA’s AML regulations. According to the experts, it would not be easy for the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN) and other Treasury officials. The agency would be required to build a corporate ownership registry that would be responsible to help the authorities in seeking the beneficial owners of the hidden shell companies and to trace the flow of the illicit funds.
FinCEN, with roughly 300 employees, must gather technological experts to develop a process that can not only store but also analyze the information regarding the ownership of the millions of businesses.
The agency will also have to work towards making potentially controversial regulations around the law in order to protect national security and encourage the innovation required to capture financial criminals and terrorists.
FinCEN will also have work towards creating a whistleblower reward program and develop national priorities that can be used by the financial institutions for risk-based compliance programs.
FinCEN’s mandate is to gather information about suspicious financial activities occurring through banks and other financial institutions. Around 160 intelligence units, along with FinCEN, are working around the world to fight money laundering.
Setting the new regulations in motion can be a demanding process The agency will have to monitor the big banks and their regulatory framework, law enforcement authorities, business entities, and financial transparency advocates.
The plan is to immediately reach the owners of the small business organisations and they will be required to submit information to the government. FinCEN’s approach to the technological side of the registry will also be important as it will determine how these records of the ownerships are used to investigate the crime.
