hardyp@ballardspahr.com | 215.864.8838 | view full bio

Peter is a national thought leader on money laundering, tax fraud, and other financial crime. He is the author of Criminal Tax, Money Laundering, and Bank Secrecy Act Litigation, a comprehensive legal treatise published by Bloomberg BNA.  Peter co-chairs the Practising Law Institute's Anti-Money Laundering program, and serves on the Steering Committee for the Cambridge Forum on Sanctions & AML Compliance

He advises corporations and individuals from many industries against allegations of misconduct ranging from money laundering, tax fraud, mortgage fraud and lending law violations, securities fraud, and public corruption.  He also advises on compliance with the Bank Secrecy Act and Anti-Money Laundering requirements.  Peter handles complex litigation involving allegations of fraud or other misconduct.

Peter spent more than a decade as a federal prosecutor before entering private practice, serving as an Assistant U.S. Attorney in Philadelphia working on financial crime cases. He was a trial attorney for the Criminal Section of the Department of Justice’s Tax Division in Washington, D.C.

With Guest Speaker IRS Criminal Investigation Special Agent Jonathan Schnatz

We are very fortunate to have Special Agent Jonathan Schnatz as our guest speaker in this podcast on international efforts to investigate tax evasion and money laundering, and how they relate to criminal investigations and civil audits of U.S. businesses and individuals.

Special Agent Schnatz

On March 1, Judge Liles C. Burke of the Northern District of Alabama issued a Memorandum Opinion (“Opinion”) and Final Judgment, finding that the Corporate Transparency Act (“CTA”) is unconstitutional.  We blogged on this lawsuit when it was filed in November 2022.

The opening paragraph of the Opinion is worthy of repetition:

The late Justice Antonin Scalia once remarked that federal judges should have a rubber stamp that says STUPID BUT CONSTITUTIONAL. See Jennifer Senior, In Conversation: Antonin Scalia, New York Magazine, Oct. 4, 2013. The Constitution, in other words, does not allow judges to strike down a law merely because it is foolish, burdensome or offensive. Yet the inverse is also true—the wisdom of a policy is no guarantee of its constitutionality. Indeed, even in the pursuit of sensible and praiseworthy ends, Congress sometimes enacts smart laws that violate the Constitution. This case, which concerns the constitutionality of the Corporate Transparency Act, illustrates that principle.

Having set the tone, the Opinion proceeds to reject the government’s three arguments that Congress had the authority to enact the CTA under the following enumerated and broad powers:

1.         Congress’ ability to oversee foreign affairs and national security;

2.         Congress’ ability to regulate under the Commerce Clause; and

3.         Congress’ taxing power.

As we will discuss, the Opinion reaches its conclusions by generally taking a broad view of States’ autonomy and a narrow view of the ability of Congress to regulate primarily “local” activity in the name of protecting national security.  It also finds that Congress cannot regulate the act of incorporation alone, and that the CTA presumably could pass constitutional muster if it applied only when a reporting entity actually begins to engage in commercial activity.  The immediate, nationwide effects of the Opinion are hard to predict at this time, other than to observe simply that the Opinion will have significant impact, and that confusion will ensue.

Continue Reading  Federal District Court Ruling:  The CTA is Unconstitutional

On February 16, the Financial Crimes Enforcement Center (“FinCEN”) published a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (“NPRM”) regarding residential real estate.  The final version of the NPRM published in the Federal Register is 47 pages long.  We have created a separate document which more clearly sets forth the proposed regulations themselves, at 31 C.F.R. § 1031.320, here.

FinCEN also has published a Fact Sheet regarding the NPRM, here.  The Fact Sheet, slightly over four pages long, is helpful and walks through the basics of many of the proposed requirements.

The NPRM proposes to impose a nation-wide reporting requirement for the details of residential real estate transactions, subject to some exceptions, in which the buyer is a covered entity or trust.  Title agencies, escrow companies, settlement agents, and lawyers need to pay particular attention to the NPRM because, based on FinCEN’s “cascade” approach to who should be responsible for complying with the reporting requirements, these parties are the most likely to be responsible.

Although the NPRM pertains only to residential transactions, FinCEN has indicated that it intends to publish a separate proposed rulemaking in 2024 regarding commercial real estate transactions.

Continue Reading  FinCEN Proposes BSA Reporting Requirements for Residential Real Estate

Third of Three Posts in a Related Series on Recent AML and Money Laundering Prosecutions

As we have blogged, the Department of Justice (“DOJ”) has been busy lately in regards to money laundering and Bank Secrecy Act (“BSA”) / Anti-Money Laundering (“AML”) prosecutions.

In our first blog post in this three-part series, we discussed a significant prosecution of an individual, and two related corporate non-prosecution agreements involving the gaming industry.  In our second blog post, we discussed two unusual prosecutions involving, respectively, an executive of a bank and an alleged AML specialist working with small financial institutions.

In our final post of this series, we will discuss the prosecution and sentencing of a lawyer who allegedly became part of the massive fraud and money laundering scheme perpetrated by his cryptocurrency client.  Specifically, on January 25, lawyer Mark Scott (“Scott”) was sentenced to 10 years in prison for allegedly laundering approximately $400 million in connection with a fraudulent cryptocurrency scheme known as “OneCoin.”  Scott was a former partner at the international law firm of Locke Lord.  Although the alleged facts and circumstances of this case are both extreme and lurid, it nonetheless reminds lawyers of the need to be careful about getting too involved in the businesses of their clients, particularly in the presence of multiple red flags.

Continue Reading  Former Big Law Lawyer Sentenced to 10 Years in Prison for Allegedly Laundering $400 Million in Crypto Client Funds

First of Three Posts in a Related Series on Recent AML and Money Laundering Prosecutions

The Department of Justice (“DOJ”) has been very active in the Bank Secrecy Act (“BSA”) / Anti-Money Laundering (“AML”) space, as reflected by a recent series of individual prosecutions and corporate non-prosecution agreements (“NPAs”). 

In this first blog post, we will discuss a significant prosecution of an individual, and two related corporate NPAs, involving the gaming industry

In the next related post, we will discuss two unusual prosecutions involving, respectively, an individual executive of a bank and an alleged AML specialist working with small financial institutions.  

In our final post, we will discuss the prosecution and sentencing of a lawyer who allegedly became part of the fraud and money laundering scheme perpetrated by his crypto client.

Although these cases are all unique and interesting in their own way, they are also all united in certain ways – particularly in regards to the need for institutions to perform sufficient due diligence regarding the conduct and source of funds of high- or higher-risk customers, and the related need for institutions to ensure that their own employees are not undermining the institutions’ AML compliance programs.

Continue Reading  Criminal Case Round-Up: Recent Prosecutions Involving Casinos

Today we are very pleased to welcome, once again, guest blogger Dr. Kateryna Boguslavska of the Basel Institute on Governance (“Basel Institute”), who will discuss the Basel Institute’s release of the 12th annual Public Edition of the Basel AML Index (the “Index”). The data-rich annual Index is a research-based ranking that assesses countries’ risk exposure to money laundering and terrorist financing. It is one of several excellent online tools developed by the Basel Institute to help both public- and private-sector practitioners tackle financial crime.  We are excited to continue this annual dialogue between the Basel Institute and Money Laundering Watch.

Established in 2003, the Basel Institute is a not-for-profit Swiss foundation dedicated to working with public and private partners around the world to prevent and combat corruption, and is an Associated Institute of the University of Basel. The Basel Institute’s work involves action, advice and research on issues including anti-corruption collective action, asset recovery, corporate governance and compliance, and more.

Dr. Kateryna Boguslavska is Project Manager for the Basel AML Index at the Basel Institute. A political scientist, she holds a PhD in Political Science from the National Academy of Science in Ukraine, a master’s degree in Comparative and International Studies from ETH Zurich as well as a master’s degree in Political Science from the National University of Kyiv-Mohyla Academy in Ukraine. Before joining the Basel Institute, Dr. Boguslavska worked at Chatham House in London as an Academy Fellow for the Russia and Eurasia program.

This blog post again takes the form of a Q & A session, in which Dr. Boguslavska responds to several questions posed by Money Laundering Watch about the 12th Basel AML Index. We hope you enjoy this discussion of global money laundering risks — which addresses terrorist financing, de-risking, non-profits, forfeiture, emerging technologies, and more.  – Peter Hardy

Continue Reading  The Basel AML Index: Forfeiture, Non-Profits, Crypto, and More. A Guest Blog.

The beneficial ownership information (“BOI”) registry under the Corporate Transparency Act (“CTA”) is now up and running at the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (“FinCEN”).  This post will follow up on a previous blog regarding the recently-published CTA BOI access regulations (the “Access Rule”).  As we will discuss, the Access Rule leaves open many important questions for financial institutions (“FIs”) covered by the CTA, as they await further proposed regulations from FinCEN regarding alignment of the CTA with the Customer Due Diligence (“CDD”) Rule.

The full federal register publication for the Access Rule is here.  It is 82 pages long.  We therefore have created this separate 13-page document, which is slightly more user-friendly, setting forth only the actual regulations (now published at 31 C.F.R. § 1010.955).

Continue Reading  Final CTA Access Rule Answers Some Questions, and Leaves Open Others

On December 14, 2023, the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York (the “Court”) granted an unusual ex parte application to serve third-party discovery subpoenas on U.S.-based Deutsche Bank entities.  The subpoenas seek evidence to assist the Applicants’ ongoing litigation against Danske Bank, which is taking place in the City Court of Copenhagen.  The Court granted this ex parte application without prejudice to the ability of the U.S.-based Deutsche Bank entities to move to quash the subpoenas on the basis of such grounds as relevance and proportionality.

As we will discuss, this discovery action raises interesting questions about the ability of private parties to obtain very sensitive anti-money laundering (“AML”) materials from financial institutions for the purposes of advancing civil litigation (either against the subpoena recipient itself or another financial institution).  Likewise, this action highlights the bind which financial institutions and other businesses can face when private litigations attempt to obtain their prior, substantial responses to regulator and law enforcement document demands.

Continue Reading  SDNY Grants Ex Parte Applicants the Ability to Subpoena Deutsche Bank Entities as Part of Ongoing AML-Related Litigation Against Danske Bank

Farewell to 2023, and welcome 2024.  As we do every year, let’s look back.

We highlight 10 of our most-read blog posts from 2023, which address many of the key issues we’ve examined during the past year: criminal money laundering enforcement; compliance risks with third-party fintech relationships; the scope of authority of bank regulators; sanctions

This morning, the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (“FinCEN”) issued the much-anticipated final rule (“Final Rule”) under the Corporate Transparency Act (“CTA”) regarding access to beneficial ownership information (“BOI”) reported to FinCEN.  These regulations could hardly have arrived any later than they did – the CTA becomes effective on January 1, 2024, although FinCEN recently extended the reporting deadline for companies created in 2024 to a period of 90 days from the date of creation

The access regulations initially proposed in December 2022 (see our blog post here) were complex; the Final Rule is as well, or more so.  Indeed, it is over 247 pages long, prior to its final publication version in the Federal Register.  Given the Final Rule’s length, we will analyze it in more detail in a future blog post. 

Today, we will describe the YouTube video contemporaneously released by FinCEN, which describes the Final Rule at a high level, and notes certain differences between it and the initially proposed regulations.  The headline here is that FinCEN has attempted to address certain criticisms raised by financial institutions regarding the initially proposed regulations and their access to BOI.  In the video, FinCEN Director Andrea Gacki observed that FinCEN still needs to propose regulations aligning the CTA with the existing Customer Due Diligence (“CDD”) Rule for banks and other financial institutions (“FIs”), which requires covered FIs to obtain BOI from designated entity customers.

This blog post is high-level and focuses only on the statements made during the video.  The details of the Final Rule still need to be parsed.  Also, FinCEN continued the information onslaught today by issuing an accompanying news release, fact sheet, statement for banks, and statement for non-bank financial institutions.

Continue Reading  FinCEN Issues Final CTA BOI Access Rules, Heralded by YouTube Video