Is Deregulation Turning the U.S. Into a Financial Crime Haven?

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The fight against financial crime and money laundering, once led by the United States, is being systematically dismantled under the Trump administration’s new deregulatory agenda, an AML expert has warned.

For decades, the U.S. was a global leader in anti-money laundering (AML) enforcement, stemming from the 1970 Bank Secrecy Act and later strengthened by the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA).

However, in an article published by Fortune.com, Marit Rødevand, CEO at Strise, an anti-money laundering software company, warns that recent decisions to halt enforcement of key financial crime laws, coupled with a deep embrace of crypto deregulation, are paving the way for unchecked fraud and corruption.

“The U.S. was once the lodestar in the fight against financial injustice, but now we’re seeing a rapid decline in enforcement and oversight,” she told Fortune, claiming the Trump administration has reversed decades of progress by eliminating enforcement of the FCPA, the Foreign Agents Registration Act (FARA), and the Foreign Extortion Prevention Act (FEPA).

These legislative safeguards were instrumental in preventing illicit financial activity, ensuring that U.S. businesses operated without bribery or corruption. “Removing these protections under the guise of ‘economic competitiveness’ is an open invitation to kleptocrats and fraudsters,” Rødevand is quoted as saying.

Perhaps the most alarming development is the administration’s enthusiastic embrace of cryptocurrency, despite its long-documented role in enabling money laundering.

“We’re seeing a wave of deregulation that’s incentivizing the proliferation of meme coins—one of the prime methods for laundering illicit funds,” Rødevand explains.

 Despite previously calling Bitcoin a “scam,” Trump’s policies have emboldened crypto speculators, leading to a surge in fraudulent schemes.

“When oversight is removed, the market becomes a playground for bad actors. The U.S. is essentially opening the floodgates for unchecked financial crime,” she added.

 In the absence of U.S. leadership, other nations are stepping up to maintain global financial integrity.