The Department of Justice is initiating new efforts to stop the
flow of "dirty" money polluting the financial system.
During his keynote address at the Money Laundering Enforcement
Conference of the American Bar and American Bankers'
Associations on October 19, Lanny Breuer, Assistant Attorney
General of DOJ's Criminal Division, announced the establishment
of a new Money Laundering and Bank Integrity Unit within the
Department of Justice.
According to Mr. Breuer, the new Unit, which will be part of the
Criminal Division's Asset Forfeiture and Money Laundering
Section, will investigate complex national and international
criminal cases, with a focus on three specific types of violators:
1) financial institutions, including their officers, managers and
employees; 2) "hired gun" professional money launderers;
and 3) those who use the latest and most sophisticated money
laundering techniques. AAG Breuer stated in his speech that the new
Unit will be staffed with "sophisticated, talented and
aggressive lawyers" who "know the complicated mechanisms
by which money moves through the global financial system," and
"who understand how organized criminal networks
work."
Importantly, AAG Breuer emphasized that financial institutions
should be partners in the Department's enhanced effort against
money laundering. He stated that if a company comes forward and
fully cooperates with an investigation, it will receive
"meaningful credit"—ranging from sentencing
credit or a below-Guidelines fine, to a deferred prosecution or
non-prosecution agreement, to no charges being brought at
all.
It is crucial that financial institutions understand their
anti-money laundering responsibilities. Under the Bank Secrecy Act,
financial institutions are charged with a variety of duties in
assisting government agencies in preventing and detecting money
laundering. Institutions must ensure that they have in place a
regularly updated compliance plan that prevents violations and
educates their employees on their compliance and legal
responsibilities.
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