Block fined $80m by US state regulators over alleged violations of BSA and AML rules – FinTech Futures: Fintech news 

The Conference of State Bank Supervisors (CSBS) has announced that San Francisco-based payment solutions specialist Block, which operates mobile payment service Cash App, has agreed to pay an $80 million fine in a settlement with 48 US state financial regulators for alleged “violations of the Bank Secrecy Act (BSA) and anti-money laundering (AML) laws that safeguard the financial system from illicit use”.Block agrees to pay $80m fineThe CSBS says in a press release on the settlement agreement that state regulators in Arkansas, California, Massachusetts, Florida, Maine, Texas, and Washington State led the multistate enforcement effort, adding that Block “cooperated with the states in the settlement”.The CSBS adds that Block has “agreed to pay the assessed penalty to the state agencies, hire an independent consultant to review the comprehensiveness and effectiveness of its BSA/AML program, and submit a report to the states within nine months”.In its announcement, the CSBS says: “Under BSA/AML rules, financial services firms are required to perform due diligence on customers, including verifying customer identities, reporting suspicious activity, and applying appropriate controls for high-risk accounts. State regulators found Block was not in compliance with certain requirements, creating the potential that its services could be used to support money laundering, terrorism financing, or other illegal activities.”The settlement agreement document states that Block “neither admits nor denies any wrongdoing, allegations or implications of fact, and neither admits nor denies any violations of applicable laws, regulations, or rules governing the conduct and operation of its money transmission related business, including related to its AML Program”.In a statement sent to FinTech Futures, a Block spokesperson says: “We’ve reached an agreement with a multi-state group of money transmission regulators led by Arkansas, California, Florida, Maine, Massachusetts, Texas, and Washington to resolve a previously disclosed matter principally related to Cash App’s past compliance program.”Launched in 2013, Cash App offers a variety of services for sending, spending, storing and investing money, and currently boasts a user base of over 50 million consumers.“As Cash App has grown, we’ve significantly increased our investment in compliance and risk management, while serving millions of customers with critical, affordable financial services,” the Block spokesperson says.“We share our regulators’ commitment to addressing industry challenges and will continue to invest across our operations to help promote a safe and healthy fintech ecosystem.”