Tag: Banking

Regulatory Watch News

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  FinCEN Issues Alert on Bulk Cash Smuggling and Repatriation by Mexico-based Transnational Criminal Organizations

  FinCEN

  March 31, 2025

  WASHINGTON—Today, the U.S. Department of the Treasury’s Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN) issued an Alert on bulk cash smuggling and repatriation by Mexico-based Transnational Criminal Organizations (TCOs), urging financial institutions to be vigilant to such activity. The Alert discusses transactions potentially related to the cross-border smuggling of bulk cash from the United States into Mexico and its repatriation into the United States and Mexican financial systems by Mexico-based TCOs. The Alert highlights one of several typologies that TCOs use to launder illicit proceeds generated in the United States through the cross-border movement of cash and how these operations enable the TCOs to place, layer, and integrate their illicit proceeds into the United States and Mexican financial systems where they can be accessed again to fund their criminal enterprises.

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  CEO Of CardReady LLC Sentenced To Seven Years In Prison For $19 Million Credit Card Laundering Scheme

  United States Attorney Office -Southern District of New York

  March 31, 2025

  Defendant Created Phony Merchant Accounts to Obtain Credit Card Processing for Fraudulent Telemarketing Scheme

  Matthew Podolsky, the Acting United States Attorney for the Southern District of New York, announced that BRANDON BECKER, the former CEO of CardReady, LLC (“CardReady”), was sentenced today to seven years in prison for operating a credit card laundering scheme in which BECKER and his co-conspirators stole over $19 million based on false promises that they could reduce thousands of customers’ debt burdens. As part of this scheme, BECKER and his co-conspirators created dozens of sham merchant accounts and false merchant applications, defrauding a credit card processing company and federally insured bank into processing victim payments. BECKER previously pled guilty before U.S. District Judge Loretta A. Preska, who also imposed today’s sentence.

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  The ESAs call for vigilance amid rising geopolitical and cyber risks

  ESMA

  March 31, 2025

  The three European Supervisory Authorities (EBA, EIOPA and ESMA – the ESAs) today published their Spring 2025 Joint Committee update on risks and vulnerabilities in the EU financial system, which focuses on the challenges linked to geopolitical tensions and cyber risks.

  The ESAs warn that growing geopolitical tensions and rising cyber risks present significant challenges to financial stability. These include trade disputes, rapidly shifting policies, ongoing international conflicts and the prospect of economic fragmentation which are reshaping global markets, requiring heightened vigilance and adaptability from supervisors and financial entities alike. Financial institutions must navigate growing uncertainties, including exposure to international markets, liquidity risks and the evolving role of artificial intelligence (AI). Ensuring resilience in the face of these developments is crucial.