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News Releases
5/14/2004 USA PATRIOT Act Monitor News Release: Two Syrian
Banks Designated Of Primary Money Laundering Concern
In an announcement on May 11, the Department of the Treasury designated the
Commercial Bank of Syria and its subsidiary, the Syrian Lebanese Commercial
Bank, as institutions of primary money laundering concern. The Treasury release
stated that the Commercial Bank of Syria "had been used by terrorists and
their sympathizers and acted a conduit for the laundering of proceeds generated
from the illicit sale of Iraqi oil." Funds from the United Nation's Oil
for Food program, according to Treasury, had also been diverted through accounts
at these banks. Unlike the recent designations of Burmese (Myanmar) banks (as
reported in an earlier Monitor release), Syria is not on the FATF list of non-cooperative
countries and territories (the NCCT list). Nevertheless, this week President
Bush signed an Executive Order declaring a national emergency with respect to
Syria, authorizing Treasury to block property of certain persons and directing
other U.S. Government agencies to impose a ban on exports to Syria. This development
will be analyzed in detail in the forthcoming May issue of the Monitor.
The USA PATRIOT Act Monitor and the news releases prepared by the Monitor staff are services of the Civic Research Institute, publisher of Money Laundering, Terrorism, and Financial Institutions, by Raymond Banoun and John Ensminger. Contact and subscription information may be obtained at http://www.civicresearchinstitute.com/moneylaundering or by calling the Civic Research Institute at 609-683-4450 (fax: 609-683-7291).