Overview

• On June 25, the Treasury’s Financial Crimes Enforcement Network designated CIBanco, Intercam Banco and Vector Casa de Bolsa as primary money laundering concerns under authorities granted by the Fentanyl Sanctions Act and the FEND Off Fentanyl Act.
• The sanctions bar US banks from processing transactions with the Mexican branches of the three medium-sized institutions, effectively severing their access to the US financial system.
• The Treasury alleges the banks facilitated millions of dollars in cartel money flows and payments to Chinese suppliers of fentanyl precursor chemicals.
• Each targeted bank has denied wrongdoing and Mexico’s finance ministry says it received no conclusive evidence to support the US allegations.
• Analysts warn the measures could further strain already tense US-Mexico trade relations and deliver a significant blow to the sanctioned institutions.