The Justice Department has put Wall Street on notice that it plans additional enforcement actions against banks that haven't done enough to stem the flow of illicit funds into the U.S. financial system, the Wall Street Journal reported today. Banks have come under increasing pressure from regulators and law enforcement to bolster their anti-money-laundering efforts as part of a broad attempt to eradicate money laundering by going after the financial institutions they say enable such activity. Prosecutors are increasingly bringing cases under the Bank Secrecy Act, which requires financial institutions to take a range of steps to ensure customers' money doesn't come from criminal activity. The Office of the Comptroller of the Currency, which oversees the largest national banks, has begun tying deficiencies in a bank's anti-money-laundering program to its formal rating of bank management, which can form the basis for enforcement actions and affect a bank's ability to raise capital.
