Director Robert W. Werner Departing the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network 
21 November 2006 - After nine months in office, Robert W. Werner announced that he will be leaving his position as Director of the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network at the end of the year. He will be accepting a position with Merrill Lynch & Co., Inc., as a Managing Director and the head of Merrill Lynch's Monetary and Financial Control Group and its Bank Compliance Group. Mr. Werner assumes his new
position with Merrill Lynch on January 2, 2007. He was appointed Director on February 17, 2006 by then Secretary of the Treasury Snow who also resigned a few months ago. Werner is the second permanent FinCEN chief to depart the job this year. His predecessor, William Fox, resigned on Jan. 30 to join Bank of America Corp.
U.S. Treasury Henry Paulson praised Werner for his public service. In a separate statement he said that "under Bob's leadership, FinCEN has paved new inroads in partnering with the financial community to safeguard against financial crime while promoting the free flow of capital".
Deputy Director William F. Baity will act as Director effective upon Mr. Werner's departure.
MTRA 16th ANNUAL CONFERENCE IN SANTA FE, NM ATTRACTS RECORD NUMBER
13 November 2006 - MTRA's 16th Annual Conference kicked off on November 12th in Santa Fe, New Mexico, with a record number of regulators and industry officials attending. More than 250 regulators and industry officials are attending the four day event, representing 41 member states and money transmitters across the country. The conference was opened by MTRA President Joseph E. Rooney of Maryland who welcomed the conferees and new MTRA members and outlined the objectives and goals of the association. The conference included an examiners school, where a money transmission examination composite rating was discussed, a comprehensive plan for investigating applications for licensing money transmitters was presented, and the new IRS examination program was discussed by IRS and FinCEN officials. The conference also included separate as well as joint sessions of regulators and industry representatives. The keynote speaker, FinCEN Director Robert W. Werner, was unable to attend and was represented by Senior Advisor Deborah Silverman.
This year's theme was entitled "Pathway to Progress". The program provided an atmosphere to facilitate networking and exchange between and among industry and regulators. The key note address delivered on behalf of FinCEN Director Werner, emphasized the important role states are playing in licensing and examining money transmitters thereby diminishing the money laundering risks associated with unlicensed money transmitters. There were also timely presentations on microfinance, money transmission to Latin American countries, and money transmission through the internet and stored value cards. A panel consisting of federal and state bank regulators and Deborah Silverman, Senior Program Advisor for Policy at FinCEN, had a healthy discussion of the reasons banks are closing accounts of money transmitters and ways to address the problem.
President Joseph E. Rooney announced that MTRA is developing a formal curriculum for a week long school for examiners and analysts. The school will offer courses to examiners and analysts to train them in the conduct of comprehensive intrastate and interstate examinations of money transmitters. It will also help many states which do not examine money transmitters to develop examination programs. The first 5-day school will be held in early 2007, separate from a the annual conference, at a central location to accommodate travelers from across the country. President Rooney thanked the MTRA Board of Directors and MTRA Administrator Susan Shermer for the organization of the conference and announced that the 2007 conference will be placed soon on the MTRA web site.
UNLICENSED MONEY TRANSMITTER SENTENCED IN VIRGINIA
6 November 2006 - On October 20, 2006, the U.S. District Court in Alexandria, Virginia, sentenced Dominic ADU-GYAMFI, of Potomac Falls, Virginia. ADU-GYAMFI, president of Reston International Corporation dba RediKash, received 12 months and a day in prison, two years' supervised release, and was ordered to forfeit the entire $241,452 that ICE seized, for operating a Prohibited Money Service Business in violation of 18 U.S.C. 1960.
In May 2006, ADU-GYAMFI pleaded guilty to a one-count information charging him with 18 U.S.C. 1960. According to his guilty plea, ADU-GYAMFI transmitted over $28 million to overseas locations, including Thailand, Saudi Arabia, Ghana, England, Hong Kong, China, Cyprus and India. In 1992, Dominic ADU-GYAMFI incorporated Reston International Corporation in the Commonwealth of Virginia and established himself as president of the corporation d.b.a. RediKash. From December 2002 through the end of 2005, ADU-GYAMFI and others acting at his direction engaged in the business of money transmitting in Virginia, using the entity Reston International Corporation, dba RediKash. In 2004 and 2005, ADU-GYAMFI submitted applications to the Virginia State Corporation Commission's, Bureau of Financial Institutions (SCC), to obtain a state license to transmit money. SCC sent ADU-GYAMFI certified letters deferring both applications and seeking additional information. A January 10, 2005 letter from the SCC directed ADU-GYAMFI to "immediately cease any and all money transmission business ... since it is not licensed to conduct such business [in Virginia]." ADU-GYAMFI continued his illegal business, despite these warnings.
In March 2005, an informant posing as a drug dealer entered the RediKash business in Woodbridge, provided fictitious identification and asked how he could quickly send money to his drug-dealing boss with no questions asked. The RediKash employee accepted the money, knowing it to be illegal proceeds and transmitted it to a person in Accra, Ghana, noted as an OFAC-Specially Designated Narcotics Trafficker. The money actually employed to obtain incriminating information were actually HIDTA designated POI/POE funds.
ICE executed search and seizure warrants on ADU-GYAMFI 's businesses and residence in December 2005, seizing numerous records and $241,452 from three bank accounts in Virginia. An ICE task force officer from the Virginia Office of Attorney General (VA-OAG) investigated this case through the ICE-led Annandale HIDTA Money Laundering Initiative, comprising of members from ICE, VA-OAG, FBI, Prince William County PD, and the Metropolitan PD.
MTRA COMMENTS TO FinCEN CONCERNING PROVISION OF BANKING SERVICES TO MSB's
10 July 2006 - We publish below the MTRA comment letter to FinCEN on the advanced notice of proposed rulemaking concerning banking services to money service business.
letter to Werner [.pdf 261KB]
FinCEN EXTENDS COMMENT PERIOD ON RULE MAKING TO JULY 10, 2006
May 10,2006 - The Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN) has extended the comment period on an advanced notice of proposed rulemaking designed to help the agency assess how to improve the relationship between banks and money-service businesses. The extension was a announced on May 9, 2006, the date the comments were originally due. The comment period was extended to July 10, 2006.
FinCEN received a number of comments, including a request from the Board of Directors of MTRA requesting extension of the comment period to allow wider distribution of the notice to money transmitters and also allow MTRA to prepare a comprehensive response. FinCEN also received complains from banks that regulatory scrutiny of money-service businesses requires them to sever their relationships with such businesses, despite supervisory guidance released on the subject last year. FinCEN determined it was appropriate to extend the comment period because it will not impede any imminent rulemaking and will allow additional interested parties to respond to the issues raised in the Advance Notice of Proposed Rulemaking.
Money Service business have encountered obstacles to creating or maintaining deposit accounts with banks. FinCEN is soliciting more facts, comments and recommendations to address the problem. MTRA is contacting its member states and also regulated money transmitters encouraging them to send their comments and recommendations to FinCEN. MTRA is also preparing a well documented comprehensive response.
KENTUCKY MODERNIZES MONEY TRANSMISSION STATUTE
26 April 2006 - The Governor of Kentucky, Ernie Fletcher, signed into law on April 24, 2006, the Kentucky Money Transmitters Act of 2006 [KMTA]. The KMTA repeals the Kentucky Sale of Checks Act and requires that all persons engaged in the business of money transmission in Kentucky be either licensed as a money transmitter, or designated as an agent of a money transmitter. The bill was drafted from the model legislation outline of the Money Transmitters Regulators Association which Kentucky is a member state. The bill was further drafted with additions from other states’ money transmitters laws based on multi-state research, conversations with other state regulators, and input from the industry. The bill had the full support of the Kentucky Bankers Association, Kentucky Credit Union League, the Kentucky Retail Federation, and the national non-bank money transmitters. The KMTA requires that all licensees maintain a net worth of $500,000. The KMTA further requires that the licensee maintain a surety bond of $500,000, which can be raised to a maximum of $5,000,000 based on the discretion of the executive director of the Kentucky Office of Financial Institutions. Licensees must maintain a pool of permissive investments equal to the amount of the outstanding payment instruments. Next, licensees and agents under the KMTA will be required to comply with the reporting and recording requirements of FinCEN. Finally, the KMTA allows a licensee to share a copy of a Kentucky report of examination with a financial institution where the licensee has its account for the purpose of providing assistance with the financial institutions' compliance with the Bank Secrecy Act. The KMTA was designated emergency legislation and therefore went into effect immediately upon the signature of Governor Fletcher on April 24, 2006. However, the KMTRA provides that current licensees under the Kentucky Sale of Checks Act have three months from the effective date of the bill to file a renewal license application. All current licenses under the Kentucky Sale of Checks Act will expire at midnight on September 30, 2006 with the new licenses being issued having an effective date of October 1, 2006. The failure to license as a money transmitter or designated as an agent of a licensee can now result in state prosecution [Class C felony]. This will assist the federal government in the prosecution of money changers, a/k/a hawalas, in this state since the KMTA will now support a prosecution under 18 U.S.C. section 1960, which was strengthened in the USA Patriot Act. A copy of the bill can be downloaded at http://www.lrc.ky.gov/record/06RS/SB123/SCS1.doc. For further information, one may contact Greg A. Jennings, General Counsel, Kentucky Office of Financial Institutions, at (502) 573-3390.
ARKANSAS AND VERMONT JOIN MTRA
After Hawaii and New Hampshire, the great states of Arkansas and Vermont joined the MTRA. This brings total MTRA membership to 41
ROBERT W. WERNER NAMED NEW FINCEN DIRECTOR
February 17, 2006 - U.S. Treasury Secretary John W. Snow today named Robert W. Werner as the new Director of the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN), a bureau of the U.S. Treasury Department. Werner currently serves as the Director of the Treasury's Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC).
"OFAC and FinCEN are two premier agencies at the heart of an unparalleled campaign to combat terrorist financing and financial crime across the globe. Fortunately, the Treasury will continue to benefit from Bob's talents and vision, as he takes over FinCEN's critical efforts to safeguard the financial sector from illicit activity," said Snow.
"Bob's expertise and steady leadership brought OFAC into the 21st Century by enhancing the Office's administration of economic and trade-based sanctions and highlighting its potential to address a wide range of threats to our national and economic security," Snow continued. "Under Bob's leadership, OFAC has greatly strengthened its relationships with the financial sector and other U.S. Government agencies, as well as with foreign counterparts around the world."
"I have full confidence that Bob will continue to protect our country against terrorist financiers, money launderers and other financial criminals in his new role as Director of FinCEN," said Snow.
As Director of OFAC, Werner oversaw the administration and enforcement of the U.S. Government's economic and trade sanctions, based on foreign policy and national security goals. Beforehand, Werner served as the Treasury's Assistant General Counsel for Enforcement and Intelligence and as the Chief of Staff of the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network. Werner began his career at the Treasury Department in the Office of the General Counsel, including serving as Counselor to the General Counsel.
Before coming to the Treasury, Werner served in the Justice Department's Office of Legal Counsel. He also served as a federal prosecutor in the U.S. Attorney's Office in Connecticut, Associate Attorney General in the State of Connecticut, and he headed Connecticut's gaming regulatory agency.
His private sector experience includes work as a partner at Bingham Dana LLP (now Bingham McCutchen) and as an officer at The Phoenix Home Life Mutual Insurance Company (now The Phoenix Companies). Werner is also a former law clerk to Associate Justices Lewis F. Powell, Jr. (retired) and Anthony M. Kennedy.
Werner earned his Juris Doctorate from New York University School of Law, his masters from Columbia University and his bachelors from Amherst College. He graduated with honors from each institution. Werner currently resides in Virginia with his wife and three children.
The Financial Crimes Enforcement Network is a bureau within the Treasury Department charged with safeguarding the financial system from money laundering and other illicit financial activity through the administration of the Bank Secrecy Act. FinCEN supports the law enforcement and intelligence communities, as well as the regulatory agencies, through the sharing and analysis of financial intelligence.
Werner replaces William Fox, who departed FinCEN in January to pursue a career in the private sector. Barbara Hammerle will serve as Acting OFAC Director.
DIRECTOR FOX DEPARTS FROM FINCEN
30 January 2006 - William J. Fox announced today that he has resigned his position as Director of the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network and accepted a position with Bank of America as a Senior Compliance Executive for financial crimes. His last day as Director will be February 3, 2006.
Mr. Fox was appointed by Treasury Secretary John Snow to be the fourth Director of the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network on December 1, 2003. Under his leadership, the agency has played an integral role in the government's efforts to safeguard the financial system from the abuses of terrorist financing, money laundering and other financial crime.
"It has been an honor to serve over the last two years with the dedicated professionals of the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network," said Fox. "I believe we have made progress toward fulfilling the agency's mission of achieving transparency in the financial system, which is vital to the government's ability to deter, detect, investigate and prosecute money laundering, terrorist financing and other economic crime."
As Director, Mr. Fox took decisive and innovative steps toward ensuring effective and uniform application of the Bank Secrecy Act, achieving an unprecedented level of cooperation with federal and state regulatory agencies. These strategic partnerships are promoting uniform examination procedures, faster and more consistent compliance activities, and joint action in cases of egregious violations of the law.
Mr. Fox initiated the development of BSA Direct, a system that will collect, process, store, and disseminate all Bank Secrecy Act data, providing authorized law enforcement and regulatory agencies with easier access and enhanced analytical capabilities. Simultaneously, Mr. Fox's strategy to increase the number of authorized law enforcement agencies with controlled access to the Bank Secrecy Act data allowed the agency's analysts to focus on producing more complex, actionable intelligence related to financial crimes.
Internationally, Mr. Fox strengthened partnerships with key allies and as host of the 13th Plenary of the Egmont Group of financial intelligence units, reinvigorated the agency's on-going support and leadership for this group.
Mr. Fox will begin his position with Bank of America on February 21, 2006. Deputy Director William F. Baity will act as Director effective February 4, 2006.
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