Pubdate: Thu, 11 Oct 2001 Source: The Herald-Sun (NC) Copyright: 2001 The Herald-Sun Contact: http://www.herald-sun.com Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/1428 Author: Sharon Theimer (AP) Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/find?203 (Terrorism) BANKING INDUSTRY WANTS CHANGES WASHINGTON -- In a tricky balancing act, the banking industry is trying to force changes in anti-terrorism legislation without appearing unpatriotic or uninterested in catching criminals. Pressing the effort are some of the most politically powerful and well-monied interests, including the American Bankers Association, Citibank and J.P. Morgan Chase. At issue are proposals to impose new restrictions and requirements on U.S. banks to make it tougher for terrorists, drug dealers and others to use them to hide money. Supporters are pushing for fast approval, saying the legislation would help law enforcement cut off terrorists' assets, including the money behind the Sept. 11 attacks on the United States. President Bush supports the Senate legislation and is urging Congress to work "very quickly in approving additional tools to combat terrorism," White House spokeswoman Claire Buchan said. A Senate anti-terrorism bill would ban U.S. banks from doing business with shell banks, which have no physical presence in any country and serve as vehicles for money laundering, said Sen. Carl Levin, D-Mich. The bill, expected to get a Senate vote this week, also would put a greater burden on banks to detect money laundering. The House Financial Services Committee planned to consider similar legislation Thursday. The American Bankers Association supports tougher money laundering laws generally, but is concerned about some of the details, ABA lobbyist Ed Yingling said. Those include the definition of shell bank, which itself is a term the banking industry does not favor, he said. "'Brass plate bank' is the term we use, because the theory is it's nothing more than a brass plate on the wall on some island," Yingling said. "There is a question about what the definition of that is because there are legitimate banks in some of these places." He said the association also wants Congress to leave some of the details about what banks can do up to the Treasury Department rather than spell out all the specific in the law. The industry is trying to win such changes to the legislation while also making it clear that banks want to help the United States go after the terrorist money trail, Yingling said. "All we're trying to do is make it as workable as possible," he said. Levin said some banks are paying "lip service" to the idea of tougher money laundering laws but working behind the scenes to derail such legislation in the House. Citibank is lobbying to add language that would let U.S. banks do business with any shell bank affiliated with a financial services company, a congressional source said on condition of anonymity. Any shell bank could set up a shell corporation to meet that requirement, the source said. Christina Pretto, a spokeswoman for Citibank's parent, Citigroup, said the company is working with the Bush administration and Congress "to achieve the most effective means to ensure that the banking system worldwide is never used by terrorists and other criminals." A Senate subcommittee investigation found that several large U.S. banks, including Citibank, Bank of America, Bank One Corp. and Wells Fargo & Co., failed to take sufficient steps to prevent money laundering through accounts with other banks. Such correspondent accounts let banks do business in countries where they have no physical presence, providing each other services such as transferring funds or exchanging currencies. Commercial banks were the seventh biggest donor to congressional campaigns in last year's election, giving a total of $10.6 million, according to the Center for Responsive Politics. Banks spent nearly $15 million lobbying last year. Links related to this article: Information on the bills, S. 1510 and H.R. 2975,available at: thomas.loc.gov/ - --- MAP posted-by: Beth