Treasury Orders New Banking Restrictions Against 3 Mexican Financial Institutions
The Treasury Department’s Financial Crimes Enforcement Network soon will issue a rule designating three Mexican financial institutions as primary money laundering concerns, which will block U.S. banks, securities brokers and other money services businesses from transmitting certain funds involving those entities.
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FinCEN designated CIBanco S.A., Institution de Banca Multiple; Intercam Banco S.A., Institucion de Banca Multiple; and Vector Casa de Bolsa, S.A., saying they’re tied to illegal opioid trafficking. The orders are the first actions by FinCEN under the Fentanyl Sanctions Act and the FEND Off Fentanyl Act, enacted in 2024, which give the Treasury Department more powers to “target money laundering associated with the trafficking of fentanyl and other synthetic opioids, including by cartels,” Treasury said.
The agency said CIBanco and Intercam are commercial banks with over $7 billion and $4 billion in total assets, respectively, and Vector is a brokerage firm managing nearly $11 billion. They each have played a “longstanding and vital role in laundering millions of dollars on behalf of Mexico-based cartels and facilitating payments for the procurement of precursor chemicals needed to produce fentanyl.”
Treasury said CIBanco, Intercam and Vector have provided financial services to help Mexico-based cartels traffic illegal drugs, and they have also helped entities procure precursor chemicals from China. The agency said they have specifically helped some cartels that were designed by the State Department in February as Foreign Terrorist Organizations, including Cartel de Jalisco Nueva Generacion (see 2502190011).
In new FAQs, FinCEN said U.S. financial institutions should put in place procedures to “ensure compliance with” the new prohibitions and “exercise reasonable due diligence to prevent engaging in transmittals of funds involving CIBanco, Intercam, or Vector.”
The measures will take effect 21 days after they’re published in the Federal Register. FinCEN said it won’t be issuing a proposed rule because its regulation “expressly authorizes Treasury to utilize this authority via the issuance of an order,” and FinCEN “determined that, given the threat to the U.S. financial system posed by CIBanco, Intercam, and Vector, issuing orders with a 21-day implementation window was appropriate.”