Financial Regulatory Forum

By Emmanuel Olaoye

WASHINGTON/NEW YORK, Nov. 6 (Thomson Reuters Accelus) - Financial institutions should take advantage of the U.S. Internal Revenue Service’s decision to postpone key start dates in the Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act (FATCA) and not wait for the U.S. Treasury to issue its final rules before they start their preparations, experts told Compliance Complete.

“If you put off your efforts or suspend them for too long I think you’ll fall way too far behind. I think you’ll have a very difficult time doing what you have to do. At this point you should have a very clear idea of what your current systems and procedures can and can’t do and how they are going to have to be modified,” said John Staples, managing partner of the law firm Burt, Staples & Maner, LLP. (more…)

By Stuart Gittleman

NEW YORK, Sept. 12 (Thomson Reuters Accelus) - Rewards like the $104 million the Internal Revenue Service said Tuesday it would pay a convicted felon would not occur under a similar Securities and Exchange Commission program, a former official who helped develop the program told Compliance Complete. (more…)

By Brett Wolf

NEW YORK, Feb. 3 (Thomson Reuters Accelus) - Despite a new federal crackdown announced this week aimed at combating tax refund fraud involving the use of stolen identities, current law enforcement efforts are not enough and fraudsters are still pumping massive sums of tax fraud proceeds through U.S. banks, sources told Thomson Reuters.

“IRS and Justice should have been doing this three years ago. This widespread criminal activity is more profitable than drug dealing,” said regulatory consultant and investigator Jim Dowling, a former Internal Revenue Service criminal investigator special agent who also acted as an anti-money laundering (AML) advisor to the Office of National Drug Control Policy.  (more…)

WASHINGTON, March 2 (Reuters) – The Internal Revenue Service has agreed to work more closely with the Securities and Exchange Commission to regulate the U.S. municipal bond market, the IRS said on Tuesday, adding the two federal agencies had signed memorandum of understanding.

“This memorandum reflects the commitment both agencies have in using all means possible to ensure the municipal bond market operates in accordance with all the laws that govern it,” said IRS Commissioner Doug Shulman in a statement.

Under the agreement, the two agencies will identify issues and trends in the municipal securities industry and “enhance performance” in regulating the $2.8 trillion market.