Regulators Investigate Signature bank. Two United States government agencies were investigating alleged money laundering practices at crypto-friendly bank Signature Bank before the bank’s collapse.
A team of US Department of Justice (DOJ) investigators is examining whether Signature Bank took adequate action to detect potential money laundering by its clients, according to a Bloomberg report on Wednesday (15/3/2023).
RUS regulators say they are so concerned about Signature Bank’s condition that they are taking precautions to monitor transactions for “signs of criminality” and vet the bank’s clients properly.
The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) is also conducting a separate investigation into Signature Bank, It is not clear when the investigation began and what effect it would have on New York state regulators’ recent decision to close the bank.
Reportedly Signature and its staff were not accused of wrongdoing, and the investigation was resolved without charges or further action taken by the SEC or the US Department of Justice.
The report comes after a class action lawsuit by Signature shareholders against the bank and a former executive accused of fraud that was filed on Tuesday (14/3/2023). Former Signature Bank board member Barney Frank said US regulators intend to “send a very strong anti-crypto message”.
Regulators Investigate Signature bank. Signature Bank is part of a series of bank closures by US regulators that also include Silvergate Capital and Silicon Valley Bank (SVB). The bank, which has been established since 2001, was closed on Sunday (12/3/2023).
The DOJ and SEC have reportedly started separate investigations into the collapses of Silvergate Capital and SVB.US regulators will also reportedly examine the events or events leading up to the bank’s collapse, including scrutinizing security filings that reveal the sale of SVB stock by the bank’s CEO Greg Becker and its CFO Daniel Beck, which occurred two weeks before SVB’s collapse.
The SEC hasn’t officially commented on the matter, but SEC chairman Gary Gensler said the SEC “Without speaking to any individual entity or person, we will investigate and bring enforcement actions if we find violations of the federal securities laws”.
