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The U.S. Justice Department gave the go-ahead, today, to ECO’s AgenTRAX™, an electronic database designed to reduce the risk of money laundering and terrorist financing in the money transmitter industry. AgenTRAX™ will allow licensed money transmitters to check whether a prospective money-transfer agent has ever been terminated by another financial institution, and if so, the reasons for the termination.
“This database is just another extension of the information sharing practice many of our clients engage in,” said Oscar Herasme, ECO’s President, noting that several licensed money transmitters centralize their remittance transactions at ECO for enhanced compliance reviews. “Sharing information on terminated agents reduces the risk of a company contracting an agent with a history of compliance or business deficiencies,” Herasme added.
In a press release, the Department of Justice noted the merits of ECO’s database. Assistant Attorney General Thomas O. Barnett, who heads the Department’s Antitrust Division, said that the database raised no anti-competitive concerns and would “facilitate better compliance with federal prohibitions against money laundering and terrorist financing. “
Alfredo Diaz, ECO’s Managing Director, noted that the new database will be an added tool in eliminating potentially troublesome agents from the industry. “Every year we see how money transmitters can get into trouble because of the acts of unscrupulous agents and/or their employees,” Diaz said. “In speaking to members of the industry we learned that this is a much needed database.”
Click to See the Department of Justice Press Release |
