U.S. banks and credit unions reported skyrocketing levels of suspected business-loan fraud last month, a period that coincided with growing awareness of scams involving government small-business aid programs.
Artificial intelligence, machine learning and enhanced data sharing among lenders could go a long way toward spotting suspicious patterns in daily financial activity and bad actors, experts say.
The news media investigation of transactions by nefarious actors puts certain large banks in a negative light, but it also points to inefficient use of suspicious activity reports and other anti-money-laundering issues that the industry has decried for years.
With lawmakers weighing changes to Bank Secrecy Act requirements, the Government Accountability Office urged the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network to establish written policies for expanding use of the agency’s database.
A new investigation by the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists says JPMorgan Chase, Deutsche Bank and several other global institutions kept moving illicit funds after receiving warnings from U.S. officials.
The Financial Crimes Enforcement Network is seeking to create a better-defined standard for effective AML compliance programs and is considering whether to impose formal requirements that banks assess their laundering risk.
The National Defense Authorization Act, approved in a vote late Tuesday, includes measures to require companies to disclose their true owners at the point of incorporation and to improve information-sharing between banks and the government.
The Treasury secretary’s recent Senate testimony coming down on cryptocurrencies is misguided. Regulations should require building better blockchain technology at the banks.
