Israeli Bank to Pay $12 million in Money Laundering Row

by Mike Bevel CollectionIndustry.com

Israel?s third largest bank, Israel Discount Bank, agreed to pay $12 million to settle allegations it failed to comply with U.S. anti-money laundering laws.

It did so, according to U.S. officials, without admitting or denying any wrongdoings.

Tuesday’s settlement was announced by the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation, the New York State Banking Department and the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN).

The bank processed about 181,000 third-party wire transfers totaling $35.4 billion from March 2004 to March 2005, and a substantial amount of those funds transfers exhibited “characteristics and patterns” commonly associated with money laundering, U.S. regulators said in statements covered by several media outlets.

They said the bank failed to implement adequate internal controls to comply with the Bank Secrecy Act, conduct adequate independent testing and adequately staff for daily monitoring.

The bank has seven offices located in New York, California and Florida and another in the Cayman Islands.