Tag Archives: John F. Walsh

Biden: The Fight Against Foreign and Transnational Corruption Is a National Security Interest

by Kimberly A. Parker, Jay Holtmeier, Christopher Cestaro, John F. Walsh, Edward C. O’Callaghan, Ronald C. Machen, Lillian Howard Potter, Chavi Kenney Nana, Zachary Goldman, Mandy Fatemi, and Gemma Bateman

On June 3, 2021, President Biden issued a National Security Memorandum establishing the fight against corruption both at home and abroad as a core United States national security interest and directing the development of a 200-day interagency review designed to culminate in a report and recommendations on how the United States government and its partners can better combat corruption, enhance transparency in the global financial system and promote good governance. When combined with the anti-money laundering (AML) legislation that entered into force with the January 2021 bipartisan passage of the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2021 (NDAA)[1]—the most significant reforms to US AML laws since the 2001 adoption of the USA PATRIOT Act—and a review of sanctions policy conducted by the Treasury Department, the Memorandum may lead to a heightened focus on illicit financial activity and corruption and may ultimately result in additional resources being allocated to anti-corruption and AML enforcement. Continue reading →

Financial Institutions Alert: Marijuana-Related Businesses Developments in the Marijuana Industry and the Implications for Financial Institutions

By Sharon Cohen Levin, John F. Walsh, Paul M. Architzel, Franca Harris Gutierrez, Matthew T. Martens, Michelle Nicole Diamond, Emma Bennett, and Zachary Goldman

The myriad—and conflicting—state, federal and international laws governing the burgeoning marijuana industry have created a complicated legal landscape for financial institutions. In the United States, most states have legalized some form of marijuana use, but the manufacture, sale and distribution of marijuana nevertheless remains illegal under federal law. As a result, in providing financial products and services to US marijuana-related businesses (MRBs), a financial institution could risk violating the Controlled Substances Act (CSA), 21 U.S.C. § 841. Moreover, engaging in or facilitating transactions that contain proceeds from US marijuana sales could create liability under the money laundering laws.

Further complicating matters, Canada became the first major world economy to legalize recreational marijuana in October 2018. Because the US narcotics laws generally do not apply to activity that is legal abroad, providing financial products and services to Canadian MRBs would not violate the CSA or implicate the US money laundering laws. However, that is not the case in many European countries. The European Union recently passed a law expanding the extraterritorial scope of member countries’ money laundering laws with respect to certain narcotics-related offenses. These laws could now criminalize the transfer of funds from activity that is legal in the foreign country (e.g., marijuana sales in Canada) if that activity would be illegal in the home country.

Below we discuss the fragmented legal and regulatory landscape governing the marijuana industry as well as notable recent developments and their implications for global financial institutions. Continue reading →

DOJ Tells Tech Companies to Develop “Responsible Encryption”

by Laura Goodall, Michael Mugmon, and John F. Walsh

On November 29, 2018, in a speech at the Georgetown University Law School, Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein renewed his call for tech companies to build into their products the means for law enforcement to legally access decrypted data, the development of so-called “responsible encryption.”[1] Mr. Rosenstein analogized such encryption to requirements that buildings disable elevators in the event of a fire but still retain firemen’s access, and he beseeched the private sector to work with the government to mitigate the security threats posed by rapid technological advances.

Summary of Mr. Rosenstein’s Address

Detailing the threat of ransomware, Mr. Rosenstein warned that the “malicious use of technology will be more pernicious and pervasive tomorrow than it is today, and even more difficult to combat.” To “forestall those ominous consequences,” he proposed three steps: Continue reading →