Losing Count: U.S. Terror-Finance Rules Drive Money Underground by Rob Barry and Rachel Louise Ensign, Wall Street Journal
Banks close the accounts of customers they fear may be up to no good, evicting from the financial system those the government most wants to watch…
U.S. banks have closed thousands of accounts held by people and organizations considered suspicious, high-risk or difficult to monitor—including money-transfer firms, foreign banks and nonprofits working abroad. Closing accounts for fear their customers may be up to no good evicts from the financial system the innocent as well as those the U.S. government would most like to watch, a consequence not anticipated by Washington…
With parallels to the way telecommunications companies have aided the National Security Agency, banks and other financial institutions have been enlisted by the U.S. to identify and report signs of terror financing and money laundering…