
                         Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: FRIDAY, May 25, 1990                   TAG: 9005250245
SECTION: BUSINESS                    PAGE: A9   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: Associated Press
DATELINE: WASHINGTON                                LENGTH: Short

MILLIONS SPENT TO STOP CASH LAUNDERING

Banks spent more than $129 million last year on government-required reports aimed at catching money-launderers, the American Bankers Association said Thursday.

Average compliance costs ranged from $3,733 for small banks to $114,360 for large banks, according to an ABA survey of 548 banks.

The government requires banks to report on currency transactions of $10,000 or more. Small banks filed an average of 14 such reports last year and large banks averaged 6,057, the survey found.

Earl Hadlow, chairman of the ABA's Money Laundering Task Force, said the banks filed nearly 7 million currency transaction reports last year.

Hadlow, the vice chairman and general counsel of Barnett Banks in Jacksonville, Fla., said the survey showed that bankers want more information from the government on the results of their efforts to thwart money-launderers.

He said only 7 percent of the banks were aware of any prosecutions resulting from their reports or notification of suspicious transactions.

by CNB