U.S. Department of the Treasury

(Archived Content)

FROM THE OFFICE OF PUBLIC AFFAIRS

The Treasury Department, the Federal Reserve Board, the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency, the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation, the Office of Thrift Supervision, and the Department of State, today announced the issuance of new guidance to help U.S. financial institutions avoid transactions that may involve the proceeds of foreign official corruption.

The guidance, issued in furtherance of our National Money Laundering Strategy, encourages U.S. financial institutions to apply enhanced scrutiny to their private banking and similar high dollar-value accounts and transactions where such accounts or transactions may involve the proceeds of corruption by senior foreign political figures, their immediate family or close associates. The guidance provides a set of suggested account establishment and maintenance procedures designed to help institutions obtain appropriate information on accounts held by such persons, as well as a list of potentially suspicious transactions that will often warrant enhanced scrutiny.

Treasury Secretary Lawrence H. Summers said, Foreign official corruption undermines U.S. efforts to promote democratic institutions and economic development around the world. This guidance will help keep U.S. financial institutions from providing unintended assistance to corrupt foreign officials seeking to hide their ill-gotten gains.

The guidance, developed by an interagency group led by Treasury Deputy Secretary Stuart E. Eizenstat, is available on Treasury's web site at www.treas.gov. Each of the issuing agencies will disseminate the guidance through their formal channels, as well.