News

The Cornerstone Report

Safeguarding America Through Financial Investigations

June 2009 - Table of Contents

International Spotlight on the Netherlands

U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) participates frequently in the U.S. Department of State International Visitors Leadership Program (IVLP) to show international guests the ins and outs of the agency’s daily work. The IVLP invites foreign government participants to the United States to strengthen relationships, enabling them to get to know counterparts in the United States and learn about American culture as a whole.

Recently, Anne-Chris Visser, senior coordinating policy advisor for the Netherlands Ministry of Finance, visited ICE in Washington D.C. Her main responsibilities are developing policy regarding anti-money laundering and counterterrorism financing in the Financial Action Task Force and financial countermeasures, like designations and freezing of assets. She met with ICE Special Agent Kevin Tyrrell from the Financial Programs/Cornerstone Unit at ICE headquarters. As it turned out, there are a lot of similarities between the United States and the Netherlands in the risks, vulnerabilities and trends in money laundering. One striking example is the exploitation of money service businesses for money laundering. For the Cornerstone Report, Ms. Visser wrote a contribution about the risks and vulnerabilities of money service businesses. The contribution represents her personal view only.