COMMERCE COMMITTEE DEMOCRATS
Congressman John D. Dingell, Ranking Member

WASHINGTON -- Representative John D. Dingell (D-MI), Ranking Democrat on the House Committee on Commerce, today released an October 6, 2000 letter report on the Department of Treasury’s initiatives toward developing an effective suspicious activity reporting (SAR) regime for the securities industry. By letter dated January 5, 2000, Rep. Dingell called the continued lack of SAR rules for the securities industry "an outrage." By letter dated February 23, 2000, Rep. Dingell requested a progress report on the steps taken by Treasury’s Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN) to address this loophole in our anti-money laundering program.

"I commend the Treasury Department for waking from its slumber on money-laundering rules for broker-dealers. The crooks know the holes in the system and most assuredly are exploiting them. Several years ago, Treasury circulated draft SAR rules and then we didn’t hear a peep from them. Now that FinCEN has expended considerable time and effort into gaining an understanding of the operational environment in which securities transactions take place, I urge prompt informed action to close this long-standing loophole. I also commend Treasury for its cooperation with the pending GAO report on the risk of money laundering in the securities industry. I look forward to reviewing that report."

A copy of the 2-page letter from Secretary of the Treasury Lawrence H. Summers accompanies this news release. (.pdf file)

(Contact: Brendan Kelsay at 202/ 226-3400)