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To: barrcuda who wrote (78566)	10/17/2001 1:10:26 PM
From: long-gone	Respond to of 116927

cbsnews.com Cleaning Up Money-Laundering Senate Passes Measure To Toughen Money-Laundering Laws New Rules For Banks, Securities Dealers And Customs Internet Gambling And 'Hawala' Networks Also Targeted (Reuters) The Senate Thursday approved legislation to toughen U.S. laws against money laundering as Congress stepped up efforts to target the financial networks that may have supported last month's devastating attacks on New York and Washington. The measure was included in broader anti-terrorism legislation giving expanded powers to U.S. law enforcers - which was passed by an overwhelming vote of 96 to 1. A similar anti-money laundering bill also cleared the House Financial Services Committee Thursday and could see a vote in the full House as soon as Friday. The Bush administration has said it supports the efforts. Money laundering involves moving illicit funds - which may be linked to terrorism, drug trafficking or organized crime - through a series of financial institutions or accounts to disguise their origin, ownership or ultimate purpose. "Money laundering is the transmission belt that gives terrorists the resources to carry out their campaigns of carnage," said Senate Banking Committee Chairman Paul Sarbanes, a Maryland Democrat. "We intend, here tonight, to end that." Among other things, the bill would bar U.S. banks from dealing with shadowy foreign "shell" banks, make them keep better records on foreign account holders, and require closer review of some so-called correspondent accounts. Correspondent accounts allow foreign banks to use U.S. banks' services, like wire transfers and check clearing, giving them direct access to the U.S. financial system. Saudi-born Osama bin Laden, Washington's prime suspect for the Sept. 11 attacks on America, may have used such accounts at banks around the world for years to finance his al Qaeda network, lawmakers have said. The legislation would also give the Treasury new powers to target foreign countries or banks deemed to present a major money-laundering threat. These range from making U.S. banks keep detailed records of dealings with those institutions or jurisdictions, to an outright ban on doing business with them. In addition, the bill would make it illegal to launder the proceeds of foreign crimes, such as official corruption, in the United States or to smuggle over $10,000 in cash into or out of the country. It would also focus new attention on the U.S. securities industry as a potential conduit for dirty cash. The legislation requires the Treasury to issue rules within nine months to require securities broker-dealers to begin filing reports with regulators on large, suspicious currency transactions - as banks already do. The House Financial Services Committee voted 62 to 1 Thursday to clear its bill, which may now also be rolled into the anti-terrorism effort in the House and taken up Friday. That legislation also includes a number of additional provisions, including targeting money laundering through Internet gambling and the underground "hawala" financial networks common in the Middle East and South Asia. "The time for business as usual has passed," the committee's chairman, Ohio Republican Michael Oxley said. "We are discovering how easily the terrorists used American dollars and the world-class services of the American financial system to underwrite their deadly operations." By Andrew Clark © MMI Reuters Limited. All Rights Reserved.