On August 21, 2019, FinCEN issued an advisory (the “Advisory”) alerting financial institutions to various financial schemes and mechanisms employed by fentanyl and synthetic opioid traffickers to facilitate the illegal fentanyl trade and launder its proceeds.

As defined by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (“CDC”), “fentanyl is a synthetic (man-made) opioid 50 times more potent than heroin and 100 times more potent that morphine.”… Continue Reading

The Conference of State Bank Supervisors (CSBS) announced yesterday that seven states have agreed to a multi-state compact that, according to the CSBS, “standardizes key elements of the licensing process for money services businesses (MSB).”

The seven states consist of Georgia, Illinois, Kansas, Massachusetts, Tennessee, Texas and Washington.  The CSBS expects other states to join the compact. … Continue Reading

The CFPB has issued its December 2015 complaint report which highlights money transfer complaints and complaints from consumers in Georgia and the Atlanta metro area.

General findings include the following:

  • As of December 1, 2015, the CFPB handled approximately 770,100 complaints nationally, including approximately 21,000 complaints in November 2015.  For November 2015, debt collection continued to be the most complained-about financial product or service, representing about 30 percent of complaints submitted. 
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