Enough about the Panama Papers and the Paradise Papers. Today another very large set of reports is unleashed from the "FinCEN Files," based on leaks from the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network of the US Treasury Department ...

From Reuters, caution and the view from the banks ...

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Leaks from the U.S. financial intelligence unit will have a devastating effect on the trust and confidentiality that underpins the anti-money laundering (AML) profession, financial crime experts said. Businesses that file suspicious activity reports (SARs) will be deeply concerned about the exposure of their compulsory and legally protected filings, said sources with experience in both the private sector and law enforcement.

The U.S. Treasury’s anti-money laundering agency, the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN), has suffered a major security breach, with media outlets preparing to publish a raft of articles based on its sensitive data holdings. The work is being coordinated by the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists (ICIJ), which was behind the Panama Papers and a number of other “data leak” projects.

FinCEN has said in a statement it was “aware that various media outlets intend to publish a series of articles based on unlawfully disclosed SARs, as well as other sensitive government documents, from several years ago”. ICIJ has not responded to requests for comment.

From Buzzfeed, the result of a deep dive into the links.

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A huge trove of secret government documents reveals for the first time how the giants of Western banking move trillions of dollars in suspicious transactions, enriching themselves and their shareholders while facilitating the work of terrorists, kleptocrats, and drug kingpins.

And the US government, despite its vast powers, fails to stop it.

Today, the FinCEN Files — thousands of “suspicious activity reports” and other US government documents — offer an unprecedented view of global financial corruption, the banks enabling it, and the government agencies that watch as it flourishes. BuzzFeed News has shared these reports with the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists and more than 100 news organizations in 88 countries.

These documents, compiled by banks, shared with the government, but kept from public view, expose the hollowness of banking safeguards, and the ease with which criminals have exploited them. Profits from deadly drug wars, fortunes embezzled from developing countries, and hard-earned savings stolen in a Ponzi scheme were all allowed to flow into and out of these financial institutions, despite warnings from the banks’ own employees.

Global financial corruption. Who woulda thunk it?  From Memeorandum ...

Spoiler

Jason Leopold / BuzzFeed News:

Deadly Terror Networks And Drug Cartels Use Huge Banks To Finance Their Crimes.  These Secret Documents Show How The Banks Profit.  —  A huge trove of secret government documents reveals for the first time how the giants of Western banking move trillions of dollars in suspicious transactions …

Discussion:

Will Fitzgibbon / ICIJ:   Unchecked by global banks, dirty cash destroys dreams and lives

RELATED:

NBC News:

Secret documents show how North Korea launders money through U.S. banks  —  WASHINGTON — North Korea carried out an elaborate money laundering scheme for years using a string of shell companies and help from Chinese firms, moving money through prominent banks in New York, according to confidential bank documents reviewed by NBC News.

Discussion:

Taegan Goddard / Political Wire:   Documents Show How North Korea Launders Money

Tom Warren / BuzzFeed News:

Documents Show Deutsche Bank's Top Executives Were Warned It Had A Dirty Money Problem.  Then A $10 Billion Scandal Broke.  —  When the $10 billion mirror trading scandal was exposed, little emerged about who its victims were or how much Deutsche's executives knew.  The FinCEN Files investigation shows how deep the rot went.

ICIJ:

Global banks defy U.S. crackdowns by serving oligarchs, criminals and terrorists  —  Secret U.S. government documents reveal that JPMorgan Chase, HSBC and other big banks have defied money laundering crackdowns by moving staggering sums of illicit cash for shadowy characters and criminal networks …

BuzzFeed News:

We Got Our Hands On Thousands Of Secret Documents.  Let's Break Them Down.  —  Twenty-two thousand pages of never-before-released government documents.  Hundreds of thousands of transactions.  More than $2 trillion.  A close accounting of BuzzFeed News' unprecedented trove.  —  Copy

Discussion:

Emilia Díaz-Struck / ICIJ:   Download FinCEN Files transaction data

more at Mediagazer »

William,

I looked for trails of money laundering linked to George Soros and the Clintons, but didn't find anything.

All I found was info on... well... you know...

Michael