Paulson aims to ease burdens for banks

Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson will propose an anti-money laundering framework for small banks tomorrow, The Wall Street Journal said. This proposal would ease the burden of paperwork and legal requirements for small banks so that they can comply with the procedures larger banks use to combat money laundering and terror financing, the Journal reported, citing an unnamed source. In the aftermath of the terror attacks on Sept. 11, 2001 and the PATRIOT Act, bank regulators and the Justice Department have scrutinized anti-money laundering measures at financial institutions. Yesterday, Mr. Paulson told the House Financial Services Committee that the Treasury was seeking ways to watch over financial systems while easing the burden on the financial sector, the Journal said. In the past, Mr. Paulson has acknowledged the difficulty the financial sector faces when complying with these regulations. “The Information the financial sector shares with the government is critically important to our efforts,” he said last week to the Council on Foreign Relations. “They do so under obligations that they sometimes perceive to as unduly burdensome.”