The National Association of Securities Dealers (Nasd) is providing member firms with a Web-based automated search tool for the US Treasury's Office of Foreign Asset Control's (Ofac) 'specially designated nationals and blocked persons' (SDN) list, which contains names of known or suspected terrorists.
In the wake of the September 11 attacks on America, all brokerage firms and financial institutions are required by US law to have comprehensive anti-money laundering programmes in place. As part of these, brokers must check whether a customer's name appears on any list of known or suspected terrorists or terrorist organisations, such as the SDN list.
The new Nasd tool allows brokers to perform an automated search of the thousands of names contained on the SDN list, letting them more easily identify individuals and organisations that may be involved in money laundering.
Mary Schapiro, president of Nasd Regulation, says: "The automated search link is the latest step in the Nasd's ongoing efforts to help implement the Patriot Act and educate brokers about the importance of developing effective anti-money laundering compliance programs."
The new tool and other anti-money laundering resources are available on the Nasd Web site anti-money laundering Web page, www.nasdr.com/money.asp.