"Over the next year, a task force of federal policymakers, functional regulators and enforcement agencies will develop recommendations on anti-money laundering rules to the Treasury Department, which has announced it is stepping back to review its current approach and correct existing "gaps, redundancies and inefficiencies."
This is potentially good news for financial institutions, large and small. The task force has a real challenge ahead, however, if it intends to enhance the industry's effectiveness in the fight against money laundering. And if that's not the intention, it should be.
Financial institutions need a framework that allows them to focus more on zeroing in on the bad guys in their world, and less on dotting every "i" and crossing every "t" for the purpose of getting through examinations unscathed. In that sense, there is an important lesson to be learned from mall cops. Yes, mall cops."
