USA Patriot Act.The USA Patriot Act USA PATRIOT Act [Uniting and Strengthening America by Providing Appropriate Tools Required to Intercept and Obstruct Terrorists], 2001, U.S. , enacted following the 9/11 terrorist attacks, requires a wide variety of businesses to establish antimoney-laundering programs to fully document and identify the parties to a number of financial transactions. While the law restricts these requirements to "financial institutions," the definition is expansive and includes banks; credit unions and thrifts; brokers and dealers; investment bankers; insurance and loan companies; dealers of precious metals Precious Metals Valuable metals such as gold, iridium, palladium, platinum, and silver. Notes: Investing in precious metals can be done either by purchasing the physical asset, or by purchasing futures contracts for the particular metal. and jewels; businesses that sell cars, planes and boats; travel agencies and casinos. While most institutions have a code of ethics Code of Ethics can refer to:
adj. Intended to prevent or counteract terrorism; counterterror: antiterrorist measures. an measures and will expect businesses to be equally vigilant. In April 2003, the U.S. Treasury U.S. Treasury Created in 1798, the United States Department of the Treasury is the government (Cabinet) department responsible for issuing all Treasury bonds, notes and bills. Some of the government branches operating under the U.S. Treasury umbrella include the IRS, U.S. Department also announced that banks and other institutions will be required to develop customer identification programs that include procedures to: * Collect identifying information about customers opening accounts. * Verify that customers are who they say they are. * Maintain records of information used to verify customer identities. * Determine whether customers appear on any list of suspected terrorist or terrorist organizations. Institutions subject to regulations requiring that they undertake these types of programs should consult with legal counsel and accountants who are experienced in forensic accounting Forensic accounting, sometimes called investigative accounting, involves the application of accounting concepts and techniques to legal problems. Forensic accountants investigate and document financial Fraud and white-collar crimes and with the prohibitions contained in federal and state law concerning money laundering. Financial penalties to businesses for violation of federal statutes are becoming substantial, but they can be reduced if companies put into effect and properly monitor an effective compliance program to prevent criminal and unethical acts by employees as part of their overall code of ethics. Sam Damren is an attorney with the Detroit office of Dykema Gossett PLLC PLLC Professional Limited Liability Company PLLC Polk Life and Learning Center (Bartow, FL) PLLC Partners of Limited Liability Corporation , a Silver-level member of the Detroit Regional Chamber. |
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