[author: Alex Dieter, Law Clerk]
To more effectively counter transnational corruption and economic sanctions evasion, recent changes to the U.S. anti-money laundering (“AML”) whistleblower regime expand and reinforce whistleblower protections and rewards in the Bank Secrecy Act of 1970, as amended (“BSA”).1 These changes to the BSA/AML whistleblower framework have significant implications, not only for “financial institutions” (as defined in the BSA) already subject to regulation under the BSA, but for all individuals and entities seeking to comply with U.S. economic sanctions administered by the U.S. Department of the Treasury (“Treasury”) Office of Foreign Assets Control (“OFAC”).
By expanding the scope of violations reportable under the BSA’s whistleblower provision to include economic sanctions violations, the new AML whistleblower law seeks to provide U.S. law enforcement agencies with an influx of useful tips to help uncover criminal networks and track down hidden assets, including those used and held by sanctioned Russian oligarchs. Additional changes, such as establishing a mandatory minimum whistleblower payout in certain circumstances, provide greater incentives for insiders to come forward to report BSA/AML and economic sanctions violations. Given that similar U.S. whistleblower laws have proven very effective, especially in recent years, the number of suspected violations reported by whistleblowers is expected to increase rapidly.2
These changes have...
Field Marshal Lord Bramall, one of Britain’s greatest soldiers, was known affectionately to his grandchildren as “Papa”. Alex Bramall, his grandson, a fashion photographer, was particularly close ...