NEW YORK—Are enforcement efforts and fines by the U.S. government slowing money laundering at financial institutions? One new report suggests they are not.
Since the financial crisis, dozens of crackdowns have targeted money launderers who effectively rely on banks, shell companies, and other mechanisms to cover their tracks, noted Bloomberg.
“Fines have surged into the billions of dollars, but it’s unclear whether the enforcement efforts have made much of a dent,” stated Bloomberg.
According to the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime, shady transactions continue to reach as much as $2 trillion a year.
Bloomberg noted several key enforcement efforts that indicate fines continue to fail to significantly slow money laundering, including:
“For 15 years or so, according to a U.S. court settlement in 2014, JPMorgan ignored red flags surrounding the dealings of Wall Street financier Bernard Madoff, who used his account at the bank to run a $65 billion Ponzi scheme, the largest ever uncovered in the U.S.,” Bloomberg stated.
“Mexican drug cartels used accounts at Wachovia to finance their operations and launder money. From 2004 through 2007, the bank, since acquired by Wells Fargo, processed at least $373 billion in wire transfers from Mexican currency houses, according to a 2010 deferred prosecution agreement with U.S. authorities,” the news outlet explained.