Halister News

(Bloomberg) -- Comptroller of the Currency Thomas Curry says his agency is re-examining how it can direct banks to handle foreign correspondent accounts after some clients have been cut off amid efforts to limit risk of money-laundering.

• “Decisions to terminate relationships can have regrettable consequences,” Curry says in remarks prepared for delivery Monday at the Institute of International Bankers conference
• Legal transactions could be “driven underground,” he says
• OCC gathering data on risk-evaluation practices, will consider new guidance, he says
• “Our goal is to identify current practices and possible gaps in existing policies and procedures for conducting periodic client risk re-evaluations and for making account termination decisions,” Curry says
• Stronger anti-money laundering rules in foreign jurisdictions might help banks’ confidence in relationships with foreign correspondent banks, he says