Mortgage companies must maintain a heightened level of vigilance when it comes to preventing mortgage fraud. The incidence of fraud attempts targeting mortgage companies continues to rise, prompting decisive action against this threat. In a criminal complaint filed on April 23, 2024, in the U.S. District Court for the District of New Jersey, the
The heavily publicized announcement by New York federal prosecutors of the first-ever charges for insider trading in digital assets — non-fungible tokens, or “NFTs” in particular — is a significant but somewhat confusing development for the crypto community and beyond. There is nothing novel about applying well-established law to the abuse of confidential, insider information
The SAFE Banking Act passed in the U.S. House of Representatives for the fifth time on September 23, 2021. This
landmark legislation would pave the way for more financial institutions to serve the state-legal cannabis industry by removing some of the attendant legal and regulatory risks, as we have previously explained.
In a tactical
Despite the cannabis industry’s explosive growth, many financial institutions have been hesitant to transact with cannabis-related businesses given the ambiguity created by divergent state and federal cannabis laws. The SAFE Banking Act seeks to remove these ambiguities at the federal level and pave the way for more financial institutions to serve the cannabis industry. But
This article was written in collaboration with Jake Fanella and Jessica Caballero at VeriLeaf. VeriLeaf is a modern RegTech platform that optimizes the onboarding, review and ongoing compliance required for high-risk banking markets. VeriLeaf leverages state-specific requirements and the financial institution’s compliance program to streamline qualification, risk assessment, and onboarding of high-risk businesses in markets
In December 2018, Congress gave the hemp industry a significant boost by passing the 2018 Farm Bill, which legalized the cultivation and sale of hemp (i.e., cannabis with a THC content of less than .3%). The 2018 Farm Bill tasked the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) with formulating the regulations to govern this burgeoning
Banks and payment processors involved with acceptance or processing of funds relating to gambling or state lottery systems can breathe a sigh of relief—at least for now—based upon a New Hampshire district court judge’s recent interpretation of the Wire Act, which rejected a much broader Department of Justice (DOJ) position that initially sent shockwaves throughout
Legislation that would pave the way for financial institutions to transact with cannabis-related businesses operating in states that have legalized marijuana (herein “cannabis-related legitimate businesses”) is quickly working its way through the House of Representatives.
The SAFE Banking Act of 2019 was introduced in the House by Rep. Ed Perlmutter (D-CO) on March 7, 2019.
On the heels of FinCen and Federal Banking Agencies releasing a joint statement “Encouraging Innovative Industry Approaches to AML Compliance,” Under Secretary for Terrorism and Financial Intelligence Sigal Mandelker announced a new collaborative era during the American Bankers Association’s Financial Crimes Conference, and emphasized the need for private/governmental working relationships and partnerships in order to
Today marks a significant shift in cannabis policy, both domestically and internationally, as Canada becomes the first industrialized nation in the world, and only the second nation overall, to legalize cannabis. This follows the passage of The Cannabis Act in June of this year, which legalized cannabis at all levels of government.
With this blessing