“Correspondent banking: a gateway for money laundering”

The title of the minority staff report of the US Senate Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations sums up its findings. If the message were not clear enough, it is spelt out in the opening sentence: “US banks, through the correspondent accounts they provide to foreign banks have…facilitated illicit enterprises including drug trafficking and financial frauds.” (The report is essential reading for MLROs and may be found at www.senate.gov/~gov_affairs/02_05_01psi_report_1sthalf.pdf.)