...
A director, speaking on the condition he not be identified, said he considered Riggs "Joe's bank." In his view, since Allbritton controlled 40 percent of it, Riggs was his to run as he pleased within the reasonable limits of federal regulation and shareholder interest. The director added that many Riggs bank and holding company directors did not recognize that there was a huge money-laundering risk involved in international and embassy banking. Those views were echoed by other board members and executives and advisers to Riggs directors.
Several Riggs executives and advisers said that may have been part of Riggs's oversight problem. For example, the corporate board did not necessarily directly receive information about OCC examinations. According to minutes of board meetings, several directors of Riggs's corporate board felt they had been left out of the loop when they learned of the OCC's findings about Riggs's money-laundering lapses in 2002. Several corporate board members expressed surprise upon learning, in July 2004, that Pinochet had been a client of the bank, despite the bank board having been briefed on an OCC examination of the Pinochet accounts in late 2002 and early 2003, according to sources.
...
"Mr. Marshall, what does the laundry committee do?" Allbritton asked.
Laughter can then be heard on the tape as the compliance chief likened the committee to a popular brand of detergent.
"The appropriate acronym is the Tide committee," Marshall answered. Marshall then said, "The money-laundering deterrence committee has the unique pleasure of ensuring we have appropriate controls are
in place to make sure we are not dealing with inappropriate individuals using the bank inappropriately for money laundering."
...
"It was like a two-by-four right between the eyes," one person present said.
more
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A14112-2005Jan16.html
Printer-friendly format
Email this thread to a friend
Bookmark this thread
(1000+ posts)
Send PM |
Profile |
Ignore
