Tell Congress to Strengthen Anti-Money Laundering Provisions

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Tell Congress to Strengthen Anti-Money Laundering Provisions

In December 2020, the 2021 National Defense Authorization Act passed with whistleblower protections included in its money laundering title, the Anti-Money Laundering Act. Edits to the Act meant that anti-money laundering whistleblower provisions fell short of best practices for protecting whistleblowers.

Today, the whistleblower protections in the Anti-Money Laundering Act would allow the Treasury Department nearly unlimited discretion in setting whistleblower award amounts without judicial review, meaning low bounty awards could be approved without oversight. This is a huge distinction from the highly effective mandatory 10% award provided by the Dodd-Frank Act. The Act also currently excludes employees of FDIC-insured banks and credit unions, leaving them defenseless against retaliation. Money laundering is a tool used by professional enablers of environmental crimes, and without adequate rewards or protections for front-line employees at FDIC-insured banks, whistleblowers have little to no incentive to report.

These loopholes must be fixed in order to encourage and award brave anti-money laundering whistleblowers who come forward and deserve protection. These whistleblowers are integral to catching corruption in the supply chain, as many major financial institutions profit off of illegal deforestation, wildlife trafficking, and unsustainable fossil fuel extraction.

By failing to flag or facilitating suspicious financial transactions, banks may exacerbate these issues, potentially by attempting to disguise the proceeds of illegal logging or hide bribery in corrupt oil deals.

So, please, write to your representatives today: ask them to strengthen whistleblower protections for those brave people who come forward to expose money laundering.

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Tell Congress to Strengthen Anti-Money Laundering Provisions

In December 2020, the annual massive National Defense Authorization (NDAA) bill passed, with anti-money laundering whistleblower provisions contained under Title LXIII. While this legislation was an important first step, the whistleblower provisions fall far short of best practices. So please, write to your representatives today: ask them to strengthen whistleblower protections for those brave people who come forward to expose money laundering.

Send a letter to your Representative

Subject: Please support enhanced protections for anti-money laundering whistleblowers

Message:

Dear Representative, I’m writing today to urge you to support enhanced protections for anti-money laundering whistleblowers and close two loopholes in a recent piece of legislation. In December 2020, the 2021 National Defense Authorization Act, H.R. 6395 passed Congress, with whistleblower protection provisions included in the money laundering title (Title LXIII). The title’s whistleblower section, Section 6314, contains two problematic provisions. The first permits the Department of Treasury to effectively deny a meaningful reward to qualified whistleblowers. The second completely excludes employees of FDIC-insured banks and credit unions from coverage. First, the Department of Treasury’s unlimited discretion to set award amounts at any level under 30% would eliminate incentives to disclose wrongdoing, by introducing uncertainty about whether a whistleblower will be awarded meaningfully. If an employee lawfully reports a $200 million fraud and complies with all of the requirements of the law, the Treasury Department could approve a reward for as little as $1.00 (one dollar) without any oversight. The Treasury’s determination would not be subject to any judicial review, even if the award determination was arbitrary, capricious and an abuse of discretion. Second, the decision to exclude employees of FDIC-insured banks and credit unions will leave these employees with no whistleblowing channels, forcing them to use outdated laws that have failed to protect and incentivize them for years. These employees are on the front lines of effective financial compliance and would be the first to notice transactions typical of money laundering schemes – they are the first line of defense for taxpayers in FDIC ensured and community based financial institutions. These provisions will create uncertainty in the administration of the whistleblower program that will result in an environment where whistleblowers with the most access to useful information will be the least likely to report violations to the government. It will also result in unjustifiable reward denials that will discredit the program. I was pleased to see Congress’ efforts to strengthen the law for whistleblowers who report illegal money laundering and terrorist financing. However, I urge you to correct these two loopholes in this recently enacted legislation to ensure all money laundering whistleblowers are protected and incentivized. To learn more, please read here: https://www.natlawreview.com/article/congress-must-protect-anti-money-laundering-whistleblowers Thank you for your time. If you have any questions, please reach out to the National Whistleblower Center at info@whistleblowers.org. Sincerely,

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Send a letter to your Senators

Subject: Please support enhanced protections for anti-money laundering whistleblowers

Message:

Dear Senator, I’m writing today to urge you to support enhanced protections for anti-money laundering whistleblowers by telling Senator Sherrod Brown, Chairman of the Senate Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs, to re-introduce the original version of the Anti-Money Laundering Act of 2020 and close two loopholes in a recent piece of legislation. In December 2020, the 2021 National Defense Authorization Act, H.R. 6395 passed Congress, with whistleblower protection provisions included in the money laundering title (Title LXIII). The title’s whistleblower section, Section 6314, contains two problematic provisions. The first permits the Department of Treasury to effectively deny a meaningful reward to qualified whistleblowers. The second completely excludes employees of FDIC-insured banks and credit unions from coverage. First, the Department of Treasury’s unlimited discretion to set award amounts at any level under 30% would eliminate incentives to disclose wrongdoing, by introducing uncertainty about whether a whistleblower will be awarded meaningfully. If an employee lawfully reports a $200 million fraud and complies with all of the requirements of the law, the Treasury Department could approve a reward for as little as $1.00 (one dollar) without any oversight. The Treasury’s determination would not be subject to any judicial review, even if the award determination was arbitrary, capricious and an abuse of discretion. Second, the decision to exclude employees of FDIC-insured banks and credit unions will leave these employees with no whistleblowing channels, forcing them to use outdated laws that have failed to protect and incentivize them for years. These employees are on the front lines of effective financial compliance and would be the first to notice transactions typical of money laundering schemes – they are the first line of defense for taxpayers in FDIC ensured and community based financial institutions. These provisions will create uncertainty in the administration of the whistleblower program that will result in an environment where whistleblowers with the most access to useful information will be the least likely to report violations to the government. It will also result in unjustifiable reward denials that will discredit the program. I was pleased to see Congress’ efforts to strengthen the law for whistleblowers who report illegal money laundering and terrorist financing. However, I urge you to correct these two loopholes in this recently enacted legislation to ensure all money laundering whistleblowers are protected and incentivized. To learn more, please read here: https://www.natlawreview.com/article/congress-must-protect-anti-money-laundering-whistleblowers Thank you for your time. If you have any questions, please reach out to the National Whistleblower Center at info@whistleblowers.org. Sincerely,

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Write to your Senators today

Subject: Please support enhanced protections for anti-money laundering whistleblowers

Message:

Dear Senator, I’m writing today to urge you to support enhanced protections for anti-money laundering whistleblowers and close two loopholes in a recent piece of legislation. In December 2020, the 2021 National Defense Authorization Act, H.R. 6395 passed Congress, with whistleblower protection provisions included in the money laundering title (Title LXIII). The title’s whistleblower section, Section 6314, contains two problematic provisions. The first permits the Department of Treasury to effectively deny a meaningful reward to qualified whistleblowers. The second completely excludes employees of FDIC-insured banks and credit unions from coverage. First, the Department of Treasury’s unlimited discretion to set award amounts at any level under 30% would eliminate incentives to disclose wrongdoing, by introducing uncertainty about whether a whistleblower will be awarded meaningfully. If an employee lawfully reports a $200 million fraud and complies with all of the requirements of the law, the Treasury Department could approve a reward for as little as $1.00 (one dollar) without any oversight. The Treasury’s determination would not be subject to any judicial review, even if the award determination was arbitrary, capricious and an abuse of discretion. Second, the decision to exclude employees of FDIC-insured banks and credit unions will leave these employees with no whistleblowing channels, forcing them to use outdated laws that have failed to protect and incentivize them for years. These employees are on the front lines of effective financial compliance and would be the first to notice transactions typical of money laundering schemes – they are the first line of defense for taxpayers in FDIC ensured and community based financial institutions. These provisions will create uncertainty in the administration of the whistleblower program that will result in an environment where whistleblowers with the most access to useful information will be the least likely to report violations to the government. It will also result in unjustifiable reward denials that will discredit the program. I was pleased to see Congress’ efforts to strengthen the law for whistleblowers who report illegal money laundering and terrorist financing. However, I urge you to correct these two loopholes in this recently enacted legislation to ensure all money laundering whistleblowers are protected and incentivized. To learn more, please read here: https://www.natlawreview.com/article/congress-must-protect-anti-money-laundering-whistleblowers Thank you for your time. If you have any questions, please reach out to the National Whistleblower Center at info@whistleblowers.org. Sincerely,

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