Individuals can be held liable for anti-money laundering (AML) control failures under the Bank Secrecy Act (BSA), a United States District Court in Minnesota has ruled.

More specifically, the Court noted that BSA civil penalties provision section 5321(a)(1), by its plain language, and absent specific exceptions, subjects individual corporate officers and employees to the imposition of civil penalties for violations of the BSA and its regulations.

The Court ruled on this in denying the motion to dismiss of former MoneyGram International Inc. chief compliance officer, Thomas Haider, who was fined US$1 million by the US Treasury Department’s Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCen) in 2014 for AML control failures.

In his motion to dismiss, among other arguments, Mr Haider challenged FinCen’s assessment under section 5318(h) of the BSA, which provides, in relevant part, that,

• “In order to guard against money laundering through financial institutions, each financial institution shall establish anti-money laundering programs.” Section 5318(h) is not a specifically excepted provision under section 5321(a)(1).

Copies of the District Court’s order (registration required) https://www.pacer.gov/

FinCen’s original press release regarding the penalty against Haider are available. http://1.usa.gov/1OyEhZ0