Authorities extend requirement for insurers to help catch dirty money

Order affects nine counties

Authorities extend requirement for insurers to help catch dirty money

Insurance News

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FinCEN (The US Treasury’s Financial Crimes Enforcement Network) has announced that title insurers will have to report all cash real estate deals in a number of states for the next six months.The order comes as part of the government’s attempt to clamp down on money laundering. The order covers New York City; Miami-Dade, Broward and Palm Beach counties; Los Angeles; San Francisco, San Mateo and Santa Clara counties; and San Antonio, Texas

The order is an extension of one that was originally made early last year and it provided "valuable data that is assisting law enforcement ” FinCEN Acting Director Jamal El-Hindi told Reuters.

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The agency is pleased with its results so far – nearly a third of all the reported deals concerned people who had already been reported to the authorities for other activities.

"The good news is those efforts appear to be beneficial to the government's work identifying money laundering schemes,” The American Land Title Association’s chief executive officer, said in a statement. "We continue to work closely with our members and FinCEN to collect the needed information as efficiently as possible."

The original FinCEN order was supposed to expire yesterday, Feb 23rd. It has been extended for 180 days.

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