The International Consortium of Investigative Journalists (ICIJ) interviewed barrister Gary Pons for the article:
FinCEN wants to clamp down on small payments fueling crime
Concerned that money transfers worth just a few hundred dollars are helping terrorists and fentanyl traffickers, the U.S. Treasury is pushing a new rule for banks, money transmitters and others.
The top U.S. financial crime watchdog wants to slash the value of transactions that banks and other financial institutions must report as potentially suspicious, citing small payments used to plan terrorist attacks and to import deadly drugs.
Gary commented:
“It’s like sticking a Band-Aid over a gaping wound,” said Gary Pons, a London-based financial crime barrister. Lowering the reporting threshold is a good idea, but won’t achieve much on its own without improvements to the quality of reports filed by banks and to FinCEN’s capacity to identify red flags, Pons told ICIJ. “Without additional improvements, it is likely that the increased number of reports will merely make the position worse in the short term.”
Gary Pons is a barrister at 5SAH Chambers who specialises in complex financial cases and the recovery of the proceeds of crime.
