Housing And Urban Committee on Banking

Combating Money Laundering and Other Forms of Illicit Finance Housing And Urban Committee on Banking

Today's hearing is the first of two currently planned hearings to explore the difficult issues underlying modernizing a decades-old system [of laws] designed to combat money laundering, terrorist financing, corruption, weapons proliferation, sanctions evasion, and a host of other threats. Some of the world's largest banks and their foreign partners have run afoul of these laws. In some cases they had inadequate anti-money laundering oversight and compliance regimes. Other banks willfully and persistently violated U. S. bank secrecy, sanctions, and anti-corruption laws. In fact, the GAO concluded last year that from 2009 to 2015 about $12 billion was collected in fines and penalties and forfeitures from financial institutions for violations of the Bank Secrecy Act, the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act, and U. S. sanctions requirements. These laws are all tools that aid the Federal Government in detecting and disrupting and inhibiting financial crimes, terrorist financing, bribery, and corruption. During that same period, Federal agencies assessed more than $5 billion specifically for Bank Secrecy Act violations. When one widens the lens and reaches back to 2005, that number grows larger, much larger. Many of these banks violated U. S. anti-money laundering and sanctions laws by knowingly facilitating financial transactions for rogue jurisdictions like Burma and Iran and Sudan and Libya and Syria. These are not victimless crimes. For example, money laundering on behalf of drug cartels has a direct line to the opioid epidemic. These types of violations should concern those who argue we should loosen laws or regulations or oversight in this area.