I am pleased to announce that under the leadership of my partner Peter Hardy, Ballard Spahr has launched Money Laundering Watch, a new blog focused exclusively on money laundering issues to keep you informed of the latest developments in enforcement, compliance, and policy.  Please visit the blog, and subscribe to receive updates.  Drawing on the firm’s collective experience in industry, government, and private practice, Money Laundering Watch will provide news, analysis and insight on compliance and enforcement trends, federal and state actions, regulatory developments, significant cases, and international efforts.

The scope of global and domestic initiatives to prevent and detect money laundering, fraud, and the financing of terrorism is expanding.  The burden of that scrutiny falls to financial institutions, which must develop policies to identify and report potential money laundering, fraud, trade embargo violations, tax evasion, and other criminal activity.  Those affected include banks, broker/dealers, casinos, and residential mortgage lenders.  Executives, owners, and other professionals also can fall under scrutiny.

Money Laundering Watch begins with Part One of a 2016 year in review, focusing on key federal and state regulatory developments in Anti-Money Laundering and related enforcement actions.  Part Two, coming next week, will focus on virtual currency, significant cases under the Bank Secrecy Act and the criminal money laundering statues, and forfeiture.