The U.S. Treasury Department’s Financial Crimes Enforcement Network and its counterpart in China signed a memorandum of understanding Friday for expanded U.S.- China collaboration to fight money laundering and terrorism financing.
FinCEN director Jennifer Shasky Calvery and the chief of the China Anti-Money Laundering Monitoring and Analysis Center, Luo Yang, signed the agreement.
“This MOU provides an important foundation for a reciprocal exchange of extremely valuable financial information to help thwart terrorism and money laundering in these perilous times,” Calvery said.
FinCEN is the lead anti-money laundering regulator for the U.S. federal government.
Its counterpart in China, known as CAMLMAC, has similar responsibilities for the Chinese government.
FinCEN has dozens of similar MOU arrangements with AML agencies from other countries, called Financial Intelligence Units or FIUs.
The FIUs from 151 countries are part of the Egmont Group, where they share information, expertise, and training to fight money laundering and terrorism financing. The DOJ has received FCPA enforcement help through the Egmont Group.
China isn’t yet part of the Egmont Group.
But the MOU with CAMLMAC will provide FinCEN and U.S. law enforcement investigators “with extremely valuable information to provide leads, expose criminal networks, and help thwart illicit activity in the vast and interconnected global economy,” FinCEN said.
The U.S.-China MOU says information being exchanged “is to be used only in an authorized manner and treated in a confidential manner,” FinCEN said.
FinCEN’s December 11, 2015 release is here.
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Richard L. Cassin is the publisher and editor of the FCPA Blog. He can be contacted here.
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