August 1, 2001
The successful application of United States' anti-money laundering laws outside the country's borders has made it more important than ever for foreign banks to comply with US regulations.
United States law, especially as it affects banking and commerce, is increasingly reaching beyond US borders. The effect of domestic anti-money laundering efforts outside of the US has increased indirectly through the application of laws not explicitly extra-national and more recently, by explicit internationalization of enforcement of US laws. Financial entities in Latin America that ignore laws that affect US financial transactions can incur substantial losses.
When the US government criminalized money laundering in 1986, its main goal was to create a weapon against drug traffickers. In time, it became apparent that the federal law was much more far reaching. The law prohibits financ