-Caveat Lector- http://webcenter.newssearch.netscape.com/aolns_display.adp?key=2002012906150 00148680_aolns.src
Senate Report on Money Laundering WASHINGTON (AP) - For drug dealers, dictators or terrorists looking to launder illicit money, U.S. brokerage firms and investment banks may be convenient and anonymous places to go, Senate investigators say. A report being released Tuesday found that securities firms have tens of thousands of offshore clients channeling billions of potentially illicit dollars into their U.S. accounts. The banking industry already has come under scrutiny for its use by money launderers. But the securities industry also ``has clear money laundering risks that need to be addressed,'' Sen. Carl Levin, D-Mich., chairman of the Senate Governmental Affairs investigative subcommittee, said. Subcommittee investigators found that all the 22 U.S. securities firms examined had numerous offshore customers and many of the firms said they couldn't provide an accurate count of those clients because their data systems didn't identify offshore entities. The clients include offshore corporations, trusts, banks and insurance companies. The securities firms, which were not named, had more than 45,000 offshore clients total, with an estimated $140 billion in assets in their accounts - of which some $137 billion came from offshore corporations and trusts, according to the report. The high-risk accounts represent about 2 percent of the U.S. firms' total accounts, it says. The investigators didn't find any evidence of illegal activity in the 22 firms that they surveyed. Levin, who has investigated money laundering in the nation's banking industry, was testifying at a Senate Banking Committee hearing Tuesday on new anti-money-laundering rules for banks and securities firms that came in response to the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks. Also appearing were high-ranking officials from the Justice and Treasury departments, the Federal Reserve and the Securities and Exchange Commission, which oversees the brokerage industry. Businesses in offshore jurisdictions - such as the Caribbean and tiny islands in the South Pacific - benefit from financial secrecy laws, which can encourage laundering of dirty money. The fight against money laundering gained new urgency after the attacks in New York City, Washington and southwestern Pennsylvania and revelations that the al-Qaida network of Osama bin Laden, the prime suspect in the attacks, uses money from Islamic charities and front companies. A new anti-terrorism law enacted in October includes rules to combat money laundering in U.S. banks and securities firms, notably requirements that they verify their customers' identities and report suspicious transactions to law enforcement agencies. The rules for banks took effect on Christmas Day. Final rules for securities firms must be issued by June. Securities businesses include brokerage firms, investment banks, investment advisers, bond dealers and mutual funds. Wall Street had lobbied against some of the rules for securities firms, such as one prohibiting them from maintaining accounts with foreign shell banks that exist mainly on paper and lack concrete operations. ``The industry has no patience for money laundering and we have been working and want to continue to work with the government to eliminate any money laundering,'' Stuart Kaswell, general counsel of the Securities Industry Association, Wall Street's major trade group, said Monday. ``We don't want this money in our business. ... We want to make these rules work,'' Kaswell said. He declined comment on the Senate panel's report, saying the group hadn't yet seen it. Law enforcement agencies have been concerned about the securities industry's potential vulnerability to money laundering, which involves the movement of profits from drug or arms trafficking, political corruption, prostitution and other illicit activities through a series of accounts or businesses to disguise them as proceeds of legitimate business. An October report by the General Accounting Office, Congress' investigative arm, showed that many U.S. securities firms do not have voluntary controls against money laundering by customers. After the Sept. 11 attacks, the SEC asked all securities firms to check their records for accounts held or transactions by any of the suspects in the case identified by the FBI, or by any of the people and groups with suspected links to terrorism - including bin Laden - named in President Bush's orders to freeze their assets. <A HREF="http://www.ctrl.org/";>www.ctrl.org</A> DECLARATION & DISCLAIMER ========== CTRL is a discussion & informational exchange list. Proselytizing propagandic screeds are unwelcomed. Substance—not soap-boxing—please! These are sordid matters and 'conspiracy theory'—with its many half-truths, mis- directions and outright frauds—is used politically by different groups with major and minor effects spread throughout the spectrum of time and thought. That being said, CTRLgives no endorsement to the validity of posts, and always suggests to readers; be wary of what you read. CTRL gives no credence to Holocaust denial and nazi's need not apply. Let us please be civil and as always, Caveat Lector. ======================================================================== Archives Available at: http://peach.ease.lsoft.com/archives/ctrl.html <A HREF="http://peach.ease.lsoft.com/archives/ctrl.html";>Archives of [EMAIL PROTECTED]</A> http:[EMAIL PROTECTED]/ <A HREF="http:[EMAIL PROTECTED]/";>ctrl</A> ======================================================================== To subscribe to Conspiracy Theory Research List[CTRL] send email: SUBSCRIBE CTRL [to:] [EMAIL PROTECTED] To UNsubscribe to Conspiracy Theory Research List[CTRL] send email: SIGNOFF CTRL [to:] [EMAIL PROTECTED] Om
