Treasury Anti-Money Laundering Regulations

P>On Wednesday, May 21, 1997, the Department of the Treasury will publish three Notices of Proposed Rulemaking in the Federal Register designed to prevent and detect money laundering in the money services businesses -- money transmitters, issuers, redeemers and sellers of money orders and traveler’s checks, check cashers, and currency retail exchangers. While these regulations are the result of the lessons learned from the New York Geographic Targeting Order ("GTO"), the regulations themselves are much broader than that order.

The GTO

Beginning on August 7, 1996, certain licensed money transmitters in the New York metropolitan area and their agents have been subject to an order requiring them to report information about the senders and recipients of all cash-purchased transmissions to Colombia of $750 or more. Under Secretary of the Treasury for Enforcement Raymond W. Kelly issued the "GTO" pursuant to a provision of the Bank Secrecy Act (BSA). GTOs are intended to be temporary measures, and can be authorized for no more than 60 days at a time.

The El Dorado Task Force

The GTO’s origins lie in the investigative efforts of the Treasury-led El Dorado Task Force, a joint federal, state and local effort that includes some 140 agents, police officers and support personnel from 13 agencies, including Customs, the IRS Criminal and Examination divisions, the Secret Service, the NYPD and New York State Banking Department.

El Dorado developed evidence that certain New York area money remitters and their agents were engaged in a scheme to move drug money to Colombia by breaking up large cash transactions to avoid the reporting and record keeping requirements of the BSA. Armed with this information, the U.S. Attorneys from the Southern District of New York, the Eastern District of New York, and the District of New Jersey, along with senior officials from Customs and IRS, presented Treasury’s Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN) with a compelling case that a GTO would be an appropriate step to take against these transmitters, FinCEN staff then worked closely with the primary Assistant U.S. Attorney and others from Customs, IRS and the Department of Justice to review the application and craft an appropriately tailored order, originally involving 12 licensed money transmitters and 1,600 agents.

The GTO was extended and expanded in October 1996 to include a total of 22 licensed transmitters and approximately 3,500 agents. The order was extended again in December and February, and extended again and expanded to include one more licensed money transmitter the first week of April, 1997.

Effects of the GTO

The GTO caused an immediate and dramatic reduction in the flow of narcotics proceeds to Colombia through New York City money transmitters. Treasury’s analysis of data generated by the GTO is ongoing, but the targeted money transmitters’ business volume to Colombia appears to have dropped approximately 30%. Business to Colombia dropped off even at the money remitters not subject to the GTO, suggesting that much of the money remitted to Colombia was controlled centrally by high-level cartel money brokers.

In the aftermath of the GTO, Customs has observed a marked increase in interdiction and seizure activity at the borders -- over $50 million in the first 6 months since the GTO went into effect, approximately four times more than in prior years.

The GTO also has had a significant impact on money laundering activity among the targeted transmitters. Several stopped sending funds to Colombia. One went out of business altogether. One money transmitter agent has pled guilty to structuring transactions to avoid the reporting requirements, and the El Dorado Task Force has made numerous additional arrests. El Dorado is continuing to pursue investigations of this type, and FinCEN will consider imposing civil penalties against violators who are not pursued criminally.

In addition to the Proposed Rules, Treasury is considering whether, and under what circumstances, to issue additional GTOs. In late May, Treasury and the Department of Justice will be convening a meeting of US Attorneys and Special Agents from high-risk money laundering areas to introduce the GTO and other tools which Treasury has at its disposal.

Proposed Rules

In response to the results achieved through the GTO, President Clinton asked Treasury to look for ways to translate into a permanent solution the benefits realized through this interim measure. The rules announced today seek to achieve this goal.

Registration of Money Services Businesses (MSBs)

The most fundamental of these proposals is to implement the Congressional mandate to register "money transmitting businesses" generally, which includes money transmitters or remitters, money order issuers and sellers, travelers check issuers and sellers, retail currency exchangers, and check cashers. Treasury has redefined this class of businesses as money services businesses ("MSBs") to avoid confusion between the terms money transmitting business and money transmitter, and has drafted the registration proposal in a way that strikes an appropriate balance between law enforcement’s need for accurate information about the owners and locations of MSBs against the concern that small businesses be spared of unnecessary and intrusive regulation.

Suspicious Transaction Reporting by MSBs

The second proposed regulation would extend the suspicious activity reporting requirements -- already in place with respect to banks -- to money transmitters and issuers, sellers and redeemers of traveler’s checks or money orders. Because customers of these institutions do not maintain account relationships, it is more difficult for these entities to know their customers well enough to spot suspicious transactions. To address this potential problem, the proposed rule provides guidance by listing specific indicia of suspicious transactions gleaned from money laundering investigations.

Lowered Threshold for Currency Transaction Reporting By Money Transmitters

The final proposed regulation essentially makes New York GTO apply nation-wide and on a permanent basis. Under the proposed rule, money transmitters would be required to report currency transactions of $750 or more that involve the transmission of funds to any person outside the United States. The rule also requires the remitters to verify the identity of the person sending the funds. Treasury does not believe that this rule will unduly burden legitimate business; the vast majority of legitimate remittances are between $200 and $500.