December 15 2015
The FACT (Financial Accountability and Corporate Transparency) Coalition welcomed the introduction of legislation to improve anti-money laundering and counter-terror finance safeguards while heightening the accountability of financial institutions. Sponsored by Representative Maxine Waters (D-CA), the Holding Individuals Accountable and Deterring Money Laundering Act [H.R. 4242] targets the individuals (or enablers) at financial institutions responsible for accepting suspect funds, while aligning the United States with a number of international anti-money laundering (AML) standards.
Several scandals at a number of the world’s biggest banks—including BNP Paribas, Standard Chartered, and Wachovia, to name a few—highlight that many financial institutions systematically flaunt sanctions and anti-money laundering controls. Indeed, it was revealedthat HSBC failed to apply legally required AML controls to more than $200 trillion (roughly three times global GDP) worth of wire transfers through its New York branch. Despite these revelations, the banks received minor fines and not a single executive was prosecuted.