Suspicious Activity - lawyers on the line?
As many of you may already know, the federal
government is stepping up its activities regarding
potential money laundering and other financial
crimes. Part of that activity is aimed at attorneys
-- primarily by requiring attorneys to report
"suspicious activity". This is a VERY HOT issue,
and your Section is right on top of it -- Kevin
Shepherd and other ABA representatives have
been involved in meetings with representatives
of various federal agencies for several months,
and there will be reports to the Section as
this develops. On February 1, 2002, the ABA
President appointed a new task force known as
the ABA Task Force on Gatekeeper Regulation
and the Profession to respond to these issues.
The task force is developing a web page. We
will add the link to this page when it is developed.
Bookmark this page and keep checking back to
see their work. If you have questions, comments
or suggestions, or if you just want to participate
in the effort, you can contact Kevin Shepherd
directly at klshepherd@venable.com
More information can be found in the e-mail
message reprinted below.
Please Note that the attachments referred
to are not provided.
-------- Original
Message --------
Subject: FIL-19-2002
SUSPICIOUS ACTIVITY REPORTS
Date: Wed,
27 Feb 2002 13:52:21 -0500
From: "Shirriel,
Arthea B." <AShirriel@FDIC.GOV>
To: FDIC-ANNOUNCE@PEACH.EASE.LSOFT.COM
FIL-19-2002
February 27, 2002
SUSPICIOUS ACTIVITY
REPORTS
TO: CHIEF EXECUTIVE
OFFICER
SUBJECT: FinCEN Publications
Attached is a copy
of the January 2002 issue of SAR Bulletin, published
by the Department of the Treasury's Financial
Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN). The publication
is part of a series of overviews of trends and
patterns in money laundering derived from the
Suspicious Activity Report (SAR) database that
can help financial institutions prevent and
detect financial crime. The SAR Bulletin also
may be found on FinCEN's Web site at this
link.
Also attached is
a copy of Issue 21A of the FinCEN Advisory,
dated January 2002. It may also be found here.
The FinCEN Advisory
is designed
to keep financial institutions, regulatory agencies
and law enforcement
agencies advised of trends and developments
related to money laundering
and financial crime. The periodical provides
intelligence and
analysis for
case support to federal, state, local and international
law enforcement
and regulatory agencies, while furnishing financial
communities
with the information
they need to help prevent and detect financial
crime.
For more information
about FinCEN programs, you may visit the
FinCEN Web site.
In a continuing effort
to assist banks in Bank Secrecy Act compliance,
anti-money
laundering efforts, and prevention and detection
of other financial
crimes, the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation
(FDIC) will forward
issues of the SAR Bulletin and the FinCEN Advisory
to FDIC-supervised
banks. Please circulate copies to each department
of your institution
with Bank Secrecy Act compliance and internal
security responsibilities.
Comments about the
SAR Bulletin and the FinCEN Advisory should
be addressed
to the Financial
Crimes Enforcement Network, Department of the
Treasury, P.O.
Box 39, Vienna, VA 22183. Comments may also
be faxed to FinCEN at (703)
905-3885.
For your reference,
all FDIC Financial Institution Letters published
since January of 1995 may be found on the FDIC's
Web site at www.fdic.gov
under "Newsroom,
Events, FOIA." For information about receiving
automatic notification of the issuance of Financial
Institution Letters, please go to this
link
Michael
J. Zamorski
Director
Attachments
Distribution: FDIC-Supervised
Banks (Commercial and Savings)
NOTE: Paper copies
of FDIC financial institution letters may be
obtained
through the FDIC's
Public Information Center, 801 17th Street,
NW, Room 100,
Washington,
DC 20434 (800-276-6003 or 202-416-6940).
