America’s largest banks are to propose a complete overhaul of how financial institutions investigate and report potential criminal activity, arguing that rules imposed in the years after the Sept. 11, 2001 attacks and strengthened during the Obama administration are onerous and ineffective, sources said. The Clearing House, a trade association representing the largest U.S. banks including Goldman Sachs , JPMorgan Chase & Co and Bank of America, has long raised concerns about the effectiveness of the current rules, but this will be the first time the group has publicly called for them to be revamped.
Complying with anti-money laundering rules, including the manpower needed to file suspicious activity reports, costs U.S. companies as much as $8 billion a year, the Heritage Foundation estimated in a report last year.