OCC Bulletin 2006-8 | February 22, 2006

U.S. Money Laundering Threat Assessment: U.S. Money Laundering Threat Assessment

To

Chief Executive Officers and Compliance Officers of All National Banks, Federal Branches and Agencies, Department and Division Heads, and All Examining Personnel

On January 11, 2006, the first U.S. government-wide analysis of money laundering, "U.S. Money Laundering Threat Assessment" (MLTA), published by the Treasury Department, was released. The report is the product of an interagency working group of 16 federal agencies, bureaus, and offices. The purpose of the MLTA is to help policy makers, regulators, and the law-enforcement community better understand the landscape of money laundering in the United States and to support strategic planning efforts to combat that activity.

The MLTA offers analyses of money laundering methods, ranging from well-established techniques for integrating "dirty money" into the financial system to modern innovations that exploit global payment networks as well as the Internet. Each chapter of the MLTA profiles the characteristics of a specific method of money laundering, outlines the current legal and regulatory landscape, and presents known patterns of abuse, geographical concentrations, and case studies. The MLTA is a tool for examiners and the banking industry to assist in the prevention of money laundering. It is available at http://www.treasury.gov/resource-center/terrorist-illicit-finance/Documents/mlta.pdf

For further information, please contact your examiner-in-charge, your OCC supervisory office, or the OCC Compliance Policy Department at (202) 649-5740.

Ann F. Jaedicke
Deputy Comptroller for Compliance Policy

Topic(s):

Bank Secrecy Act & Anti-Money Laundering (BSA/AML)