The Wall Street Journal Interviews Kevin Toomey on Treasury’s Proposed Shift in Anti-Money-Laundering Enforcement

Kevin Toomey, head of Arnold & Porter’s Financial Services practice, was recently quoted in The Wall Street Journal article, “Treasury’s Bank Regulation Takeover Has a New Goal: Anti-Money-Laundering Rules,” which examined the Trump administration’s proposal to give the U.S. Treasury Department a more central role in enforcing anti-money-laundering (AML) requirements for banks.

Kevin pointed out that the administration appears focused on helping banks better understand what an effective AML program looks like, rather than emphasizing technical deficiencies. He also noted that many institutions devote significant resources to addressing issues that may not meaningfully improve their ability to detect illicit activity.

“I can’t tell you how many clients spend millions of dollars on technical violations that have nothing to do with the effectiveness of the program,” Kevin said.

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