| TO: | CHIEF EXECUTIVE OFFICER (also of interest to BSA Compliance Officer) |
| SUBJECT: | Infobank, Minsk, Belarus - Subject of Primary Money Laundering Concern |
| Summary: | The Department of the Treasury has designated Infobank, Minsk, Belarus (and its subsidiaries), to be a financial institution of primary money laundering concern and has issued a proposed special measure. |
On August 18, 2004, the U.S. Department of the Treasury (Treasury) announced the
designation of Infobank, Minsk, Belarus, to be a financial institution of "primary money
laundering concern" under Section 311 of the USA PATRIOT Act. For purposes of this
document and unless otherwise noted, reference to Infobank includes Infobank and any
other branch, office or subsidiary of Infobank.
Treasury, acting through the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN), is issuing a
proposed rule to impose special measures against Infobank. The proposed rule would
prohibit U.S. financial institutions from opening or maintaining correspondent or
payable-through accounts in the U.S. for, or on behalf of, Infobank. This proposed
prohibition extends to correspondent or payable-through accounts maintained for other
foreign banks when such accounts are used by the foreign bank to provide financial
services to Infobank indirectly.
Treasury is soliciting written comments regarding this proposed rule. The proposed rule
can be found on the FinCEN Web site under "What's New" at
http://www.fincen.gov
. Comments must be submitted
on or before September 23, 2004, to Treasury via electronic mail at
regcoments@fincen.treas.gov
. Include
RIN 1506-AA67 in the subject line of the message. Comments may also be submitted by
paper mail to FinCEN, P.O. Box 39, Vienna, Virginia 22183. Include RIN 1506-AA67 in the
body of the text.
Please distribute this information to the appropriate personnel in your institution.
For your reference, FDIC Financial Institution Letters may be accessed from the FDIC's
Web site at
www.fdic.gov/news/financial-institution-letters/2004/index.html
.
To learn how to automatically receive FDIC Financial Institution Letters through e-mail,
please visit
http://www.fdic.gov/about/subscriptions/index.html
.
| Michael J. Zamorski | |
| Director | |
| Division of Supervision and Consumer Protection |
Distribution: FDIC-Supervised Banks (Commercial and Savings)
NOTE: Paper copies of FDIC financial institution letters may be obtained through the FDIC's Public Information Center, 801 17th Street, NW, Room 100, Washington, DC 20434 (1-877-275-3342 or (703) 562-2200).