Insurers to Receive Specific Guidelines to Comply with Federal Anti-Money-Laundering Legislation By Michelle Logsdon - April 25, 2002
Developing an anti-money-laundering program is a new concept to insurance companies; therefore, the U.S. Treasury is giving the industry six more months to come up with a plan. Originally, all insurers and financial-services entities were suppose to have anti-money-laundering procedures in place by April 24 to comply with the Patriot Act.
The Patriot Act was signed into law shortly after the Sept. 11 attacks to help combat funding for terrorist activities. The legislation required insurers and other financial-services entities to develop internal procedures to control and identify money-laundering; train employees to detect the crime; place a trained compliance officer in charge of the program, and conduct independent audits of the systems they put in place.
Most financial institutions have experience in money-laundering detection but the Treasury Department decided to study the insurance industry further before defining guidelines for their anti-money-laundering programs. According to a statement from the Department, “the risk inherent in their operations will vary considerably.”
Members of the American Insurance Association (AIA) already have some sort of system in place according to Phillip Schwartz, vice president and general counsel for AIA. Schwartz told BestWire, “The extension will allow Treasury to issue regulations specifically for the insurance industry.”
Adjuster / Examiner Claims Examiner Santa Ana Unified School District Santa Ana, CA