4/10/2023 0 Comments Nodus international bank![]() This memorandum also surveys two additional topics-the Treasury Department and DOJ’s follow up to President Biden’s whole-of-government crypto executive order, and recent developments in the work of the Financial Action Task Force (FATF). This large increase reflected a return of multiple large, multi-agency resolutions as well as a rash of seizures of high-value assets owned by Russian oligarchs. This total is nearly a sixfold increase compared to the total penalties imposed in 2021 and is significantly higher than in prior years (the total for 2021 was approximately $630 million, the total for 2020 was approximately $960 million, and the total for 2019 was approximately $2.4 billion). In total, through the end of 2022, federal and state authorities imposed approximately $3.88 billion in penalties and asset seizures for AML/sanctions violations. The New York Department of Financial Services (“DFS”) continued to focus on AML as a key area, and has increasingly focused on crypto companies, including notable AML enforcement actions against Robinhood Crypto and Coinbase. The SEC similarly announced a $413 million settlement with Danske Bank. correspondent banks, and for failing to divulge the risks associated with the program’s deficiencies, requiring a forfeiture of $2.059 billion. Outside the Russia context, DOJ reached a criminal resolution with Danske Bank for misrepresenting the strength of the AML compliance program of its Estonian branch to U.S. In addition to continuing its rulemakings to implement the Anti-Money Laundering Act of 2020 (“AML Act”), FinCEN issued three consent orders in 2022, totaling nearly $170 million, which is less than the over $300 million imposed the prior year. OFAC took other unprecedented action in the crypto space, including its designations of Blender.io, a cryptocurrency mixer, and Tornado Cash, the latter of which is being challenged in two pending lawsuits. Nearly half of this penalty figure was attributable to its first-ever enforcement action against a cryptocurrency exchange, Bittrex. In addition to issuing an unprecedented number of sanctions in response to the Russian invasion of Ukraine, Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) issued over a dozen enforcement actions, totaling nearly $43 million in civil penalties (more than double the amount that it had imposed in 2021). In March 2022, DOJ announced the creation of the KleptoCapture Task Force to ensure the full effect of the Russia/Ukraine sanctions “by targeting the crimes of Russian officials, government-aligned elites, and those who aid or conceal their unlawful conduct.” For its part, Treasury’s Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN) has issued several guidance documents encouraging financial institutions to identity and report indicia of Russian sanctions evasion activity. and Russian persons-for violating Russian sanctions and related financial crimes, and has obtained several seizure orders for sanctioned oligarchs’ yachts, planes, and other property. The Department of Justice (DOJ) has filed several indictments-including against U.S. ![]() President Biden and other senior members of his administration made clear throughout 2022 that civilly and criminally enforcing sanctions targeting Russia-and, where possible, seizing ill-gotten property-is a paramount priority. persons’ ability to engage in “new investment” in Russia or to provide a variety of services to persons located in Russia (as well as heightened export controls for U.S.-origin goods bound for Russia) have increasingly made Russia effectively a quasi-comprehensively sanctioned jurisdiction, contributing to the decision of a number of companies to pull back from or exit the Russian market. These far-reaching sanctions, including prohibitions on U.S. Following a “start high/stay high” strategy, the Biden Administration imposed sanctions targeting prominent Russian financial institutions, state-owned entities, government agencies and officials, and oligarchs with unprecedented speed, breadth, and coordination with allied countries (including the United Kingdom, members of the European Union, Japan, Canada, and Australia). government’s deploying of its sanctions, AML, and export control authorities to respond forcefully to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in February 2022. We also provide some thoughts concerning compliance and risk mitigation in this challenging environment. ![]() economic sanctions and anti-money laundering (“AML”) developments and trends in 2022 and provides an outlook for 2023. ![]()
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