Media Coverage
Source: Daily Business Review
Media Coverage
Press Contacts: Erik Cummins, Matt Hyams, Olivia Thomas
02.21.17
After the U.S. federal government identified high-end real estate as a potential conduit for money laundering, the Treasury Department’s Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN) issued temporary geographic targeting orders, or GTOs, with the purpose of gathering data in certain metro areas, including South Florida and parts of California, New York and Texas.
According to Daily Business Review, the GTOs made it a legal obligation for title companies to disclose the names of people behind the shell corporations that often buy high-end properties, and the orders are set to expire this week. Miami Tax partner Michael Kosnitzky told DBR he predicts that the era of criminals using real estate to get around money laundering laws is almost over.
“Things that affect criminal activity, especially criminal activity involving foreigners in the country, I think will be a focus of this administration,” he said.
The question remains whether the Department of Treasury plans on renewing or expanding the orders or just letting the program end, especially since President Donald Trump signed what is essentially a moratorium on creating new industry regulations.
“Once things settle down in Washington and the moratorium is lifted, I think you’ll see a much broader expansion of these rules,” Kosnitsky said, noting that the initial GTO program’s exclusion of wire transfers in its surveillance is “a loophole you could drive a truck through.”