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ENFORCEMENT INFORMATION FOR JUNE 7, 2019
Western Union Financial Services, Inc. Settles Potential Civil Liability for Apparent Violations of the Global Terrorism Sanctions Regulations. Western Union Financial Services, Inc. (“Western Union”), a money services business (MSB) headquartered in Denver, Colorado, has agreed to pay $401,697 to settle its potential civil liability for 4,977 apparent violations of the Global Terrorism Sanctions Regulations, 31 C.F.R. part 594 (GTSR).
OFAC determined that Western Union voluntarily self-disclosed the apparent violations to OFAC, and the apparent violations constitute a non-egregious case. The statutory maximum civil monetary penalty amount for the apparent violations was $1,244,250,000, and the base civil monetary penalty amount for the apparent violations was $637,614.
Between December 9, 2010, and March 13, 2015, a bank (“the bank”) in The Gambia was one of Western Union’s principal Master Agents in The Gambia. In or around...
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1) LEGAL BASIS FOR LIABILITY
OFAC does not clearly connect the dots between facts and legal bases for liability. Some facts mentioned are essential for the egregiousness and other enforcement guidelines-related determinations, but not basic legal liability.
OFAC refers to a "master agent" and "sub-agent" relationship. It is described as follows in Western Union's SEC filings.
"In some countries outside the U.S., Western Union may operate through master agents, which are generally independent businesses that in turn subcontract with generally small independent stores who offer Western Union services at their locations. All Western Union Agent locations have access to the Money Transfer System and must send all Western Union transfers by wire via the Money Transfer System." [1] https://sec.report/Document/0001206774-17-000170/
With this setup, it is possible that OFAC would have held...