U.S.A Cuts Off Tanzania Bank

U.S. authorities severed access to the U.S. financial system for a Tanzania-based lender they accuse of facilitating money laundering.U.S. financial institutions are now barred from opening or maintaining accounts at FBME Bank Ltd., said the U.S. Department of Treasury’s Financial Crimes Enforcement Network, or FinCEN. The bank was named last year by FinCEN as a “financial institution of primary money laundering
concern” under Section 311 of the Patriot Act; the action taken Thursday finalized the initial findings, fully cutting the bank off from the U.S. financial system.
“The U.S. will not allow a compromised foreign bank to send dirty funds through the U.S. financial system,” said FinCEN Director Jennifer Shasky Calvery, in a press release.
FBME joins Banco Delta Asia, a Macau-based bank used by North Korea, and the Commercial Bank of Syria as the only financial institutions currently subject to a final rule under the Patriot Act identifying them as representing a primary money laundering concern.