As we have blogged (here, here, here, here and here), the Anti-Money Laundering Act of 2020 (“the AMLA”) amended the Bank Secrecy Act (“BSA”) to expand whistleblower incentives and strengthen whistleblower protections. At a high level, the AMLA amended 31 U.S.C. § 5323 to provide that if the government recovers
Acting Director Suggests that Financial Institutions Should “Welcome” the ProgramHimamauli Das, the Acting Director of the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (“FinCEN”), spoke about the Anti-Money Laundering Act of 2020 (the “Act”) and FinCEN’s role in its implementation at New York University Law School’s March 25, 2022 Program on Corporate Compliance and Enforcement. After discussing the Act’s emphasis on modernizing and improving the effectiveness of the general U.S. anti-money laundering (“AML”) framework, Mr. Das devoted the final portion of his talk, denoted as “Compliance and Enforcement” in his prepared remarks, almost entirely to FinCEN’s whistleblower program.
As we have blogged (here, here and here), the Act’s amendment of the Bank Secrecy Act (“BSA”) greatly expands the options for whistleblowers alleging AML violations and should generate litigation and government actions, similar to what occurred over the past decade in the wake of the creation of the Dodd-Frank whistleblower program. The remarks by Mr. Das highlighted that FinCEN is hiring personnel for its new “Office of the Whistleblower;” is already receiving whistleblower tips; and is actively drafting rules to implement the Act’s whistleblower provision. However, FinCEN still faces a major hurdle – lack of Congressional funding for the program.
Continue Reading New AML Whistleblower Program Highlighted by FinCEN Acting Director
Farewell to 2021, and welcome 2022 — which hopefully will be better year for all. As we do every year, let’s look back — because 2021 was a very busy year in the world of money laundering and BSA/AML compliance, and 2022 is shaping up to be the same.
Indicative of the increased pace and
As we have blogged, the Anti-Money Laundering Act of 2020 (“AMLA”) amended the Bank Secrecy Act (“BSA”) to expand greatly the options for whistleblowers alleging anti-money laundering (“AML”) violations and potentially create a wave of litigation and government actions, similar to what has occurred in the wake of the creation of the Dodd-Frank whistleblower
As we have blogged, the Anti-Money Laundering Act of 2020 (“AMLA”) amended the Bank Secrecy Act (“BSA”) to expand greatly the options for whistleblowers alleging anti-money laundering (“AML”) violations and potentially create a wave of litigation and government actions, similar to what has occurred in the wake of the creation of the Dodd-Frank whistleblower program.
We thought it would be valuable to learn how counsel for potential whistleblowers regard the AMLA and its implications. We therefore are very pleased to welcome to Money Laundering Watch guest bloggers Mary Inman and Carolina Gonzalez of the law firm Constantine Cannon.
Ms. Inman is a partner in the London and San Francisco offices of Constantine Cannon. After 20+ years representing whistleblowers in the U.S., she moved to London in July 2017 to launch the firm’s international whistleblower practice, and she now splits her time between the London and San Francisco offices. She specializes in representing whistleblowers from the U.S., U.K., Europe and worldwide under the American whistleblower programs, including the federal and various state False Claims Acts and the Securities and Exchange Commission (“SEC”), Commodity Futures Trading Commission (“CFTC”), Internal Revenue Service (“IRS”), Department of Transportation (“DOT”) and new Treasury Department BSA whistleblower programs. Ms. Inman’s efforts to export the American whistleblower programs to the U.K., including her efforts on behalf of a successful British whistleblower, were featured in a recent New York Times article “Law Firm Sees Britain as Hunting Ground for U.S. Whistleblower Cases.” Her successful representation of three whistleblowers exposing fraud in the Medicare Advantage program was featured in the February 4, 2019 issue of the New Yorker magazine in an article entitled “The Personal Toll of Whistle-Blowing.” Ms. Inman represents renowned whistleblower Tyler Shultz who exposed the now infamous Silicon Valley blood testing start-up Theranos, and regularly speaks on lessons to be learned from this scandal.
Ms. Gonzalez is a senior associate in Constantine Cannon’s London office and a member of the firm’s International Whistleblower practice. She represents international whistleblowers under various U.S. and non-U.S. whistleblower reward programs. Her practice focuses on financial services fraud, foreign corruption, and money laundering. Carolina is heavily involved in developing various practice initiatives in emerging markets like Latin America, Africa, and the Middle East.
This blog post again takes the form of a Q & A session, in which Ms. Inman and Ms. Gonzalez respond to questions posed by Money Laundering Watch about the BSA’s new whistleblower provision. We hope you enjoy this discussion regarding this important new development, and how it is regarded by potential whistleblowers and their counsel. – Peter Hardy and Meredith Dante
Continue Reading The New BSA Whistleblower Provision – From the Whistleblowers’ Perspective. A Guest Blog.
The Occupational Health and Safety Administration (“OSHA”) now will investigate workers’ complaints of retaliation for reporting alleged money laundering and antitrust-related violations under new whistleblower statutes. On February 19, 2021, the Department of Labor announced that OSHA would oversee whistleblower claims alleging retaliation under two laws – the Anti-Money Laundering Act of 2020 (“AMLA”) and
As we have blogged, the Anti-Money Laundering Act of 2020 (the “Act”) (part of the National Defense Authorization Act (“NDAA”), passed on January 2, 2021), represents a historic overhaul of the Bank Secrecy Act (“BSA”). One of the most important changes – and certainly one that has attracted great attention by the media and commentators – is Section 6314 of the NDAA, entitled “Updating whistleblower incentives and protections.” The Act’s expanded whistleblower provision is modeled after the Dodd-Frank Act’s whistleblower provisions, and seeks to follow in Dodd-Frank’s footsteps. But, there are some key differences between the Act and Dodd-Frank. The Act also creates a more limited whistleblower program specifically pertaining to foreign corruption.
Aside from expanding the potential monetary rewards, the most significant aspect of the Act is that it explicitly invites internal compliance officers of financial institutions to use the information obtained through their compliance functions in order to pursue a whistleblower reward. This provision highlights the tension between individuals and institutions, and increases the pressure on financial institutions to comply with the law, take whistleblowers seriously, and be ready to deal with employees who purport to be whistleblowers but may be pursuing their own agenda. It also is a prudent time for financial institutions to review their internal complaint procedures and assess whether any changes are warranted given this new development.
Continue Reading AMLA Adds Robust New Whistleblower Provisions for Anti-Money Laundering Violations
The Southern District of New York (“SDNY”) recently rejected a retaliation claim brought by a former bank employee under the Bank Secrecy Act (“BSA”), granting summary judgment in favor of the employer bank because the former employee failed to demonstrate that his firing was caused by his act of reporting a potential violation of law to the government. Although the reasoning underlying the Court’s Order is straight-forward, the case provides another reminder of the often difficult employment issues that both financial institutions and potential whistleblowers can face.
Whistleblowing as to alleged anti-money laundering (AML) violations is a growing phenomenon, perhaps best exemplified by the fact that a whistleblower precipitated the colossal Dankse Bank money laundering scandal. Previously, we blogged about a bank whistleblower case producing the opposite result as the SDNY Order here. In this post, we discuss both the BSA whistleblower statute and the SDNY Order, and, more generally, we note steps that financial institutions might take to protect themselves from liability and legitimate whistleblowers from retaliation.
Continue Reading Would-Be Whistleblower Fails to Show Causation Under the Bank Secrecy Act for Termination