Latest news with #Mexico-based
TimesLIVE
3 days ago
- Business
- TimesLIVE
US targets three Mexican financial institutions under fentanyl sanctions
The FinCEN sanctions do not block property or cut off all global dollar-based activities of the Mexican firms as other Treasury sanctions would, but they do prohibit US transactions with their locations in Mexico, a US Treasury official told reporters. The action will have a similar effect of cutting the institutions out of the US financial system, the official added. The Treasury said that commercial banks CIBanco and Intercam have assets of more than $7bn (R123.59bn) and $4bn (R70.62bn) respectively, making them relatively small by global banking standards. But the action against Vector, a brokerage firm that manages nearly $11bn [R194.21bn] in assets and is one of the top 10 securities brokers in Mexico, 'underscores the significance of our actions', deputy US Treasury secretary Michael Faulkender told reporters. 'This is a bold move. Being cut off from the US financial system is a death blow. It's enormously impactful,' said Vanda Felbab-Brown, senior fellow at the Brookings Institution and a specialist on organised crime. 'These are hardly the biggest banks in Mexico, but they are not small entities. These are medium-level banks,' she said, adding that while significant it was unlikely to 'make any kind of dent in the financial flows of Mexican criminal groups'. LAUNDERING MILLIONS The Treasury said all three institutions 'have collectively played a long-standing 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'. 'Vector categorically rejects any accusation that compromises its institutional integrity,' Vector said in a statement. It reiterated its full willingness to collaborate with Mexican and US authorities to clarify the situation. Intercam said: 'We categorically deny any connection between this institution and any illicit practice.' 'CIBanco has no involvement in illegal activities,' the bank said in a statement, adding it complies with all regulations set by the relevant authorities. Luis Manuel Perez de Acha, a tax lawyer and money laundering expert in Mexico City, said the accusations were a 'bombshell'. 'The entire financial system passes through the US, so they are practically left without operations,' he said.
Daily Mail
3 days ago
- Business
- Daily Mail
Steve Madden rival, Freebird, shuts 14 stores amid retail crisis
A much-loved footwear chain has shuttered the majority of its stores as it teeters on the edge of bankruptcy. Freebird, founded in Denver in 2009, rose to prominence selling a range of boots and other niche footwear. However, the brand -once a rival of major brands such as Steve Madden - has fallen on tough times and has now shuttered 14 of its 20 locations. The retailer has blamed the rising cost of staff wages, dips in consumer spending and supply chain issues made worse by Trump's recent tariffs. The company's woes were laid bare last month when KeyBank sued in an attempt to recoup some of the $15.4 million they claim Freebird owes the bank, The Sun reported. A court ordered financial firm Ampleo to take control of the company and instigate turnaround efforts. Ampleo consultant Doug Charboneau soon told the court that Freebird was in a 'severe liquidity crisis.' On top of its KeyBank debt the footwear maker also owes $6 million to the Mexico-based manufacturer that supplies 85 percent of its products. However, this supplier has now ceased operations, according to the publication. Ampleo said it is in negotiation with two companies interested in buying Freebird. However, if a deal is not forthcoming then it will close four more of its remaining stores. This would leave Freebirds at risk of a bankruptcy filing and full liquidation. As the chain's future looks uncertain shoppers may be able to pick up sale bargains as it tries to shift its inventory. All sales in store and online are now final, and returns will not be accepted. It comes just weeks after another popular shoe chain filed for bankruptcy as in-person store's continue to struggle in a tough retail landscape. Soleply, known for its high-end brands like Kanye West's Yeezy, filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in New Jersey back in March. Soleply - which also sells t-shirts, sweatshirts, jackets and hoodies - has up to $10 million in debts, according to court filings. The premier sneaker retailer currently has six locations across Delaware, Connecticut, Maryland, Rhode Island, New Jersey and Pennsylvania. Major footwear brands are also struggling with Nike recently reporting a shocking sales collapse. Nike's sales dropped 9 percent in the first quarter of the year, a staggering $1.16 billion drop.
Yahoo
3 days ago
- Business
- Yahoo
US sanctions Mexican banks, alleging connections to cartel money laundering
The United States has imposed sanctions on three Mexican banks, alleging they had been used to launder money for drug cartels. On Wednesday, the US Department of the Treasury tied the banks – CIBanco, Intercam Banco and Vector Casa de Bolsa – to the cross-border trafficking of the deadly synthetic drug fentanyl. It accused them of playing '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'. The sanctions are part of a wider pressure campaign by the administration of US President Donald Trump against Latin American gangs, criminal networks and drug traffickers. That campaign has included designating several groups as 'foreign terrorist organisations' and using tariffs to pressure Mexico's government to increase enforcement of irregular traffic across the border. In a statement, the Treasury Department said the banks were the first to be targeted under new pieces of legislation – the Fentanyl Sanctions Act and the FEND Off Fentanyl Act – passed to expand its ability to target money laundering related to opioid trafficking. The sanctions would block transfers between the targeted Mexican banks and US banks, although it was not immediately clear how far-reaching the limits would a statement, Secretary of the Treasury Scott Bessent accused the banks of 'enabling the poisoning of countless Americans by moving money on behalf of cartels, making them vital cogs in the fentanyl supply chain'. But Mexico's Secretariat of Finance and Public Credit responded to the sanctions by saying it had yet to receive conclusive evidence justifying them. 'We want to be clear: If we have conclusive information proving illicit activities by these three financial institutions, we will act to the fullest extent of the law,' the Finance Ministry said. 'However, to date, we have no information in this regard.'CIBanco did not immediately respond to the allegations. The US Treasury Department accused it of being connected to money laundering by the Beltran-Leyva Cartel, the Jalisco New Generation Cartel (CJNG) and the Gulf Cartel. Intercam, which is also accused of having connections to the CJNG cartel, also did not respond. Meanwhile, the brokerage firm Vector, which was linked to money laundering by the Sinaloa Cartel and Gulf Cartel, said the US claims tying its operations to drug traffickers were false. 'Vector categorically rejects any accusation that compromises its institutional integrity,' the company said in a statement, adding that it would cooperate to clarify the situation.
Yahoo
3 days ago
- Business
- Yahoo
US blocks money transfers by 3 Mexico-based financial institutions accused of aiding cartels
MEXICO CITY (AP) — The U.S. Treasury Department slapped sanctions Wednesday on three Mexico-based financial institutions it said were used to launder millions of dollars for cartels, in a move officials say would block certain money transfers between the sanctioned banks and U.S. banks. The orders issued on the banks CIBanco and Intercam Banco, as well as brokerage Vector Casa de Bolsa, are part of an ongoing push by U.S. and Mexican authorities under pressure by U.S. President Donald Trump to crack down on Mexican cartels that traffic fentanyl. The banks 'have collectively played a long-standing 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,' Deputy Treasury Secretary Michael Faulkender told reporters on Wednesday. Faulkender said the measures would 'effectively cut off' the bank branches from doing business with U.S. financial institutions. The three financial institutions did not immediately respond to requests for comment. It was not immediately clear, however, how far-reaching the effects would actually be. The Treasury orders said CIBanco and Intercam had each facilitated transfers to two U.S. financial institutions, and Vector had facilitated a transfer to one, but Treasury officials would not name which U.S. institutions were implicated nor provide more details. Officials also did not rule out the possibility of foreign branches of the banks outside of Mexico being able to continue to do business with U.S. banks. According to the Treasury orders, CIBanco helped facilitate money laundering for a number of cartels, including the Jalisco New Generation, Beltran Leyva and Gulf. Officials said the bank 'facilitated procurement' of chemicals used to make fentanyl from China, by processing over $2.1 million in payments for the materials. Vector was accused of facilitating money laundering for the Sinaloa and Gulf cartels, including $1 million in payments for fentanyl chemicals. The Treasury officials also said that Vector was used by the Sinaloa Cartel to send bribes to former Mexican Security Secretary Genaro García Luna, who was sentenced to more than 38 years in prison by a New York court in October for the charges. They estimated that transactions exceeded $40 million. Intercam faced similar charges, and was accused of passing through transfers of $1.5 million in payments for chemicals used to produce fentanyl from China. The orders were just the latest actions by the Trump administration, which has announced it was cracking down on Mexican cartels and fentanyl trafficking, despite movement of the drug along the border and overdoses within the U.S. already being on the decline. This year, the administration also declared many of those cartels Foreign Terrorist Organizations and has sanctioned 31 people since Trump took office as part of the effort. ____ Follow AP's coverage of Latin America and the Caribbean at
Straits Times
3 days ago
- Business
- Straits Times
US targets three Mexican financial institutions under fentanyl sanctions
A view shows a bronze seal beside a door at the U.S. Treasury building in Washington, U.S., January 20, 2023. REUTERS/Kevin Lamarque/File Photo The U.S. Treasury on Wednesday prohibited certain transactions with Mexico-based financial institutions CIBanco, Intercam Banco and Vector Casa de Bolsa as part of its new fentanyl sanctions. The actions by the Treasury-run Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN) to declare the three institutions "as primary money laundering concerns" mark the first actions under the Fentanyl Sanctions Act and the FEND Off Fentanyl Act, the Treasury said in a statement. Experts said the move, although targeting relatively small institutions, could have significant impact on Mexico's financial system given the interconnectedness between banks and the close business relationship with the United States. Although sanctions against individuals and companies for links to Mexican organized crime groups are fairly frequent, measures against financial institutions are far less common. The sanctions also add another potential obstacle to easing U.S.-Mexico trade tensions over U.S. President Donald Trump's 25% punitive tariffs on many imports from Mexico, which are aimed at spurring action to halt the flow of fentanyl into the U.S. Mexico's Finance Ministry said in a statement that it was notified of the FinCEN investigation and asked the Treasury for evidence of illicit activity links to CIBanco, Intercam and Vector, but received no "conclusive information." The FinCEN sanctions do not block property or cut off all global dollar-based activities of the Mexican firms as other Treasury sanctions would, but they do prohibit U.S. transactions with their locations in Mexico, a U.S. Treasury official told reporters. The action will have a similar effect of cutting the institutions out of the U.S. financial system, the official added. The Treasury said that Commercial banks CIBanco and Intercam have assets of over $7 billion and $4 billion, respectively, making them relatively small by global banking standards. But the action against Vector, a brokerage firm that manages nearly $11 billion in assets and is one of the top 10 securities brokers in Mexico, "underscores the significance of our actions," Deputy U.S. Treasury Secretary Michael Faulkender told reporters. "This is a bold move. Being cut off from the US financial system is a death blow. It's enormously impactful," said Vanda Felbab-Brown, senior fellow at the Brookings Institution and a specialist on organized crime. "These are hardly the biggest banks in Mexico, but they are not small entities. These are medium-level banks," she said, adding that while significant it was unlikely to "make any kind of dent in the financial flows of Mexican criminal groups." LAUNDERING MILLIONS The Treasury said all three institutions "have collectively 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." "Vector categorically rejects any accusation that compromises its institutional integrity," Vector said in a statement. It added that it reiterated its full willingness to collaborate with Mexican and U.S. authorities to clarify the situation. Intercam said: "We categorically deny any connection between this institution and any illicit practice." "CIBanco has no involvement in illegal activities," the bank said in a statement, adding that it complies with all regulations set by the relevant authorities. Luis Manuel Perez de Acha, a tax lawyer and money laundering expert in Mexico City, said the accusations were a 'bombshell.' 'The entire financial system passes through the United States, so they are practically left without operations," he said. REUTERS Join ST's Telegram channel and get the latest breaking news delivered to you.
