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UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT
FOR THE DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA

FEM E BANK LTD.

90 Archbishop Makario III Avenue
1391 Nicosia, Cyprus
FBM E LTD.

75 Fort Street
George Town, Grand Cayman KY1-1108
Cayman Islands
Plaintiffs,
v.

Case No. l:15-cv-01270

JACOB LEW , in his official capacity as

Secretary of the Treasury
1500 Pennsylvania Avenue, NW
Washington, D.C. 20220
U.S. DEPARTMENT OF THE TREASURY

1500 Pennsylvania Avenue, NW
Washington, D.C. 20220
JENNIFER SHASKY CALVERY, in her

official capacity as Director of the Financial
Crimes Enforcement Network
PO Box 39,
Vienna, VA 22183
FINANCIAL CRIMES ENFORCEMENT
NETWORK,

PO Box 39,
Vienna, VA 22183
Defendants.
COMPLAINT

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Introduction

1.

On August 28, 2015, FBME Bank Ltd. (“FBME” or “the Bank”) will cease to

exist as an international commercial bank. At the root of this irreparable harm is an unlawful
final rule (“Final Rule”) issued by a bureau of the U.S. Department of the Treasury known as the
Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (“FinCEN”). When this Final Rule takes effect three
weeks from now—it was published in the Federal Register on July 29, 2015. with an effective
date of August 28, see 80 Fed. Reg. 45057 (July 29, 2015)—it will permanently cut off the Bank
from the U.S. financial system, including U.S. dollar transactions and U.S. correspondent bank
accounts. Because the vast majority of FBME’s business consists of U.S. dollar transactions, so
the Final Rule will fundamentally impair FBME’s business and imperil its survival. Foreign
regulators have informed the Bank that they are initiating procedures to liquidate or sell the
Bank, citing the Final Rule as justification.
2.

FinCEN promulgated the Final Rule under § 311 of the USA PATRIOT Act, 31

U.S.C. § 5318A. Although framed as a regulation, the Final Rule amounts to an adjudication of
FBME—an adjudication in which FinCEN played the part of prosecutor, judge, jury, and
executioner.

FinCEN conducted the investigation, branded FBME a financial institution of

“primary money laundering concern,” and imposed the maximal penalty available under § 311:
FBME is barred from transacting in dollars with U.S. banks, either directly or through a thirdparty financial institution. For a bank, this penalty is (as The Economist recently noted) “more
often than not a death sentence.”
3.

FinCEN arrived at the Final Rule through a process that evokes the Star Chamber.

FinCEN held no hearing before a neutral arbiter, refused to inform the Bank of most of the
factual allegations against it or the supposed proof underlying them, and failed to account for the
extensive contrary evidence the Bank submitted in response to the known allegations. When the

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Rank disproved the few specifics that FinCEN offered, FinCEN acknowledged only some of its
mistakes and inexplicably ignored the remaining mass of contrary evidence.

Simply put,

FinCEN refused to allow the facts to get in the way of its foreordained outcome, insisting upon
the same maximal and disproportional penalty even as the factual case against FBME—to the
extent FinCEN had revealed it—fell apart. In the end, the Final Rule failed to specify evidence
or even allegations that would remotely suggest the Bank is in fact a “primary money laundering
concern” that deserves the crushing sanction imposed, consistent with § 311 and the factors
specified thereunder.
4.

FinCEN’s Final Rule thus reflects a result in search of a reason. This Court will

find no satisfying explanation for how FinCEN reasoned its way from the record before it to its
astonishing conclusion that FBME devotes its business to money laundering. FBME does not
seek to pretend that no transactions in its history have raised concerns. In that regard, FBME is
no different than any other reputable bank the world over. But the transactions referred to by
FinCEN reflect (to the extent the Bank can identify them from the vague information provided)
little more than a series of isolated transactions, all predating 2012, that the bank itself identified
and addressed at the time. There is no indication that any systemic problem plagues the Bank,
much less that it is complicit in money laundering. Indeed, over the course of the Bank’s long
history, no regulatory authority has ever accused, much less convicted, the Bank of recurrent
anti-money-laundering failures. If FinCEN nonetheless has a basis here to impose the maximum
penalty under § 311, then banks all around the world must tremble.
5.

FinCEN's issuance of the Final Rule is. in short, irreconcilable with the

procedural and substantive requirements of the Administrative Procedure Act, as well as with due

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process under the U.S. Constitution, and it is incapable of ultimately withstanding this Court’s
review.
Jurisdiction and Venue

6.

This Court has jurisdiction under 28 U.S.C. § 1331.

7.

Sovereign immunity is waived by 5 U.S.C. § 702.

8.

Venue in this Court is proper under 28 U.S.C. § 1391(e).
Parties

9.

Plaintiff FBME is an international commercial bank headquartered in Tanzania.

Its primary place of business is in Cyprus. FBME is the subject of the Final Rule promulgated
by FinCEN under § 311 of the USA PATRIOT Act and published at 80 Fed. Reg. 45057 (July 29,
2015).
10.

Plaintiff FBME Ltd. is a holding company that owns 100% of the shares of

FBME. It is headquartered in the Cayman Islands.
11.

Defendant Jacob Lew is sued in his official capacity as Secretary of the Treasury.

The Secretary implements and administers § 311 of the USA PATRIOT Act. Secretary Lew has
delegated this authority to the Director of FinCEN. The Secretary is located in Washington, D.C.
12.

Defendant U.S. Department of the Treasury is the executive agency led by

Secretary Lew, which has responsibility for implementing and administering § 311 of the USA
PATRIOT Act. The Department is located in Washington, D.C.
13.

Defendant Jennifer Shasky Calvery is sued in her official capacity as Director of

FinCEN. The Director has been delegated the authority to implement and administer § 311 of
the USA PATRIOT Act. She exercised this authority to promulgate the Final Rule at issue in this
lawsuit. The Director is located in Vienna, Virginia.

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Defendant FinCEN is a bureau within the U.S. Department o f the Treasury led by

Director Shasky Calvery. FinCEN promulgated the Final Rule at issue in this lawsuit. FinCEN
is located in Vienna, Virginia.

Origins of FBME Bank
15.

FBME is an international commercial bank that, as o f mid-2014, had some $2

billion in assets. The Bank has operated in its current form since 1982, though its roots date back
to 1952, when M ichel Ayoub Saab and his brother established the Federal Bank o f Lebanon as
one o f the first 16 banks in Lebanon. In 1977, in the midst o f the Lebanese Civil War and the
Syrian occupation o f Lebanon, the Federal Bank opened an office in Cyprus because o f its
relative political and economic stability, and its proximity to Lebanon. Five years later, Michel
Ayoub Saab and his two sons, Ayoub-Farid M. Saab and Fadi M. Saab, formed FBME (then
called the Federal Bank o f the Middle East) in Cyprus as a subsidiary o f the Federal Bank o f
Lebanon.
16.

By 1985, the situation in Lebanon had grown dire. The Saabs— as members o f

the Lebanese-Christian minority— feared nationalization o f Lebanese banks by Syrian forces. To
protect FBME, the Saabs acquired the Federal Bank o f Lebanon’s 51% ownership stake in
FBME. As a result, FBME ceased to be a subsidiary; the two banks have remained separate
since 1986, but owned by the same shareholders.
17.

M ichel Ayoub Saab passed away in 1991. His sons, Farid Saab and Fadi Saab,

currently manage FBME as Chairman and Chief Executive Director, respectively.

Operations, Customers, and Services
18.

FBME is headquartered in Tanzania but operates primarily in Cyprus. FBME has

two branches in Cyprus, through which 90% o f FBME’s activities are booked. FBME also has
four branches in Tanzania, and it had a representative office in Russia. It is the largest bank in

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Nonetheless, because

FBME’s business consists primarily o f providing commercial banking services to international
companies, its functional currency has always been the U.S. dollar.
19.

The Bank services customers around the world.

FBME markets itself to

customers by focusing on the high quality o f services it provides. Clients receive personalized
care, including regular contact with senior managers. To attend to its customers’ needs, the Bank
employs staff skilled in international banking and fam iliar with different cultures and languages.
Working hours span global markets across different time zones in order to facilitate customer
access. Many o f FBME’s customers like to bank in Cyprus because it (i) is a member o f the
European Union, (ii) has advantageous tax laws, including one o f the lowest corporate tax rates
in the EU and favorable tax treaties with almost 50 countries, and (iii) is strategically located at
the crossroads o f Europe, Asia, the Middle East, and Africa.
20.

The Bank offers a wide variety o f financial products and services, including

corporate and personal banking, trade finance, FX trading facilities, credit facilities, loans,
investment services, and online banking. FBME does not operate retail branches; instead, it
specializes in assisting high-net-worth customers with complex international business
transactions. As a result, cash transactions are only a miniscule fraction o f FBME’s transactions
(1.9% o f the number o f transactions; 0.067% o f transactions by value). Almost all o f the Bank’s
business flow s electronically through accounts with major correspondent banks.

Correspondent Banks
21.

A correspondent bank is a financial institution that provides services— such as

conducting business transactions and accepting deposits— on behalf o f another financial
institution.

Banks routinely use correspondent hanks to service transactions originating in

foreign countries and to act as the domestic bank’s agent abroad. Opening a branch in every

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country in which it has customers would be impracticable, so a domestic bank depends upon
correspondent banks to provide the full range of services its customers expect.
22.

FBME is a boutique bank with few branches, none of which are retail banks. To

transact in any local currency—such as U.S. dollars—FBME must use correspondent banks. The
vast majority of FBME's transactions involve U.S. dollars.

Losing access to U.S. dollar

correspondent accounts will leave the Bank unable to provide the international financial sendees
that constitute a substantial majority of its business.
U.S. Presence and Property
23.

Although FBME is based in Cyprus and Tanzania, it has property in the United

States, and it maintains important ties with a number of American companies. Over 150 of the
Bank's customers reside or operate in the United States. The Bank maintains accounts with
around 30 companies headquartered in the United States, and it owns various U.S.-based
securities.
24.

The Bank also holds a mortgage interest in an approximately 3,000-acre

residential community currently under development in North Carolina.

Per the loan terms,

FBME receives a percentage of each property sale in partial satisfaction of the loan. These funds
are presentiy held in escrow for FBME in a bank account in North Carolina.
Business M odel

25.

FBME employs a conservative business plan. It pursues modest growth, low

loan-to-deposit ratios, and high liquidity and solvency ratios. Throughout FBME’s 30-plus-year
history, the Bank’s shareholders have never declared a dividend, choosing instead to re-invest all
funds to support the Bank’s continued growth. Thanks to its conservative approach, the Bank
enjoyed exceptional financial health until July 2014, when FinCEN first proposed to sanction
FBME under § 311.

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Section 311 of the USA PATRIOT Act
26.

Shortly following the attacks o f September 11,2001, the President signed into law

the USA PATRIOT Act. Section 311 o f that Act (which is an amendment to the Bank Secrecy
Act) authorizes the Secretary o f the Treasury to “require domestic financial institutions and
domestic financial agencies” to take one or more o f five “special measures” against a foreign
financial institution that the Secretary o f the Treasury has found to be a “primary money
laundering concern.” 31 U.S.C. § 5318A (a)(l).

The special measures function as penalties

against the entity designated a “primary money laundering concern.”

The Secretary has

delegated to the Director o f FinCEN the responsibility for administering § 311.
27.

Section 311 does not specifically define the term “primary money laundering

concern.” Before finding that banks or other financial institutions meet this undefined standard
and warrant the imposition o f a “special measure,” the Secretary o f the Treasury must consult
with the Secretary o f State and the Attorney General, § 5318A (c)(l), and “shall consider in
addition such information as the Secretary determines to be relevant,” including:
(i) “the extent to which such financial institutions . . . are used to
facilitate or promote money laundering in or through [a particular]
jurisdiction, including any money laundering activity by organized
criminal groups, international terrorists, or entities involved in the
proliferation o f weapons o f mass destruction or missiles;
(ii) the extent to which such institutions . . . are used for legitimate
business purposes in the jurisdiction; and
(iii) the extent to which [the special measure] is sufficient to
ensure, with respect to . . . institutions operating in the jurisdiction,
that the purposes o f this subchapter continue to be fulfilled, and to
guard against international money laundering and other financial
crimes.
§ 5318A(c)(2)(B).

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The “special measures” available under the statute include requiring enhanced

recordkeeping and reporting, § 5318A (b)(l); demanding beneficial ownership information on
relevant accounts, § 5318A(b)(2); demanding information regarding customers o f domestic
financial institutions who are permitted to use suspect payable-through accounts, § 5318A(b)(3);
and demanding information regarding customers o f domestic financial institutions permitted to
use suspect correspondent accounts, § 5318A(b)(4).
29.

The most severe measure is the fifth special measure, under which the Secretary

can prohibit or otherwise restrict domestic financial institutions and agencies from opening or
maintaining

correspondent

accounts

for

a

designated

foreign

financial

institution.

§ 5318A(b)(5). The effect o f the fifth special measure is to sever all ties between all domestic
financial institutions or agencies and the “primary money laundering concern.”
30.

In selecting which o f the five special measures to apply to a “primary money

laundering concern,” the Secretary must consult with certain federal agencies and officials,
§ 5318A(a)(4)(A), and must consider a series o f factors:
(i) whether similar action has been or is being taken by other
nations or multilateral groups;
(ii) whether the imposition o f any particular special measure would
create a significant competitive disadvantage, including any undue
cost or burden associated with compliance, for financial
institutions organized or licensed in the United States;
(iii) the extent to which the action or the timing o f the action would
have a significant adverse systemic impact on the international
payment, clearance, and settlement system, or on legitimate
business activities involving the particular jurisdiction, institution,
class o f transactions, or type o f account; and
(iv) the effect o f the action on United States national security and
foreign policy.
§ 5318A(a)(2)(B).

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The statute allows the first four of the five special measures to “be imposed by

regulation, order, or otherwise as permitted by law.” § 5318A(a)(2)(B). But the fifth special
measure “may be imposed only by regulation.” § 5318A(a)(2)(C). Resort to the fifth special
measure thus triggers rulemaking procedures under the Administrative Procedure Act. See 5
U.S.C. § 553.
FinCEN’s Notice O f Finding & Notice O f Proposed Rulemaking

32.

On July 22. 2014, FinCEN published a Notice of Finding and a Notice of

Proposed Rulemaking, which state that “reasonable grounds exist” to conclude that FBME is a
“primary money laundering concern,” and which propose to impose against the Bank the fifth
special measure authorized by §311. See Notice of Finding, 79 Fed. Reg. 42639 (July 22,
2014); Notice of Proposed Rulemaking, 79 Fed. Reg. 42486 (July 22, 2014).
33.

The Notice of Finding alleged an array of misconduct by FBME. The principal

charge was that FBME has had a series of failures in its anti-money-laundering controls.
According to FinCEN, FBME’s failures have attracted high-risk customers that use FBME “to
facilitate money laundering, terrorist financing, transnational organized crime, fraud, sanctions
evasion, and other illicit activity internationally and through the U.S. financial system.” 79 Fed.
Reg. at 42639. Specifically, the Notice alleged that FBME facilitated money laundering and
other crimes by:
•

the head of an international narcotics trafficking and money
laundering network (in 2011-12):

•

a financier for Lebanese Hezbollali (in 2008);

•

a financial advisor for a major transnational organized crime figure
(in 2008);

•

an entity that perpetrated a fraud against a U.S. person involving a
high yield investment program (in 2009);

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•

an entity that carried out a phishing attack on a Michigan-based
company (in 2010);

•

the intended beneficiary of a fraud scheme, the majority of the
proceeds of which came from a victim in California (in 2012);

•

persons seeking to evade sanctions imposed by the International
Emergency Economic Powers Act (no timeframe alleged);

•

a front company for a U.S.-sanctioned Syrian entity, the Scientific
Studies and Research Center, which has been designated as a
proliferator of weapons of mass destruction (no timeframe
alleged);

•

gamblers, particularly U.S. gamblers that seek to engage in
unlawful internet gambling (no timeframe alleged); and

•

shell companies acting on behalf of the son of the President of
Equatorial Guinea (in 2011-12).

Id. at 42639-40. The Notice also alleged that FBME had attempted to evade the oversight of one
of its primary regulators, the Central Bank of Cyprus, which (according to FinCEN) had twice
found FBME's anti-money-laundering controls deficient. Id.
34.

The Notice further found that FBME’s customer base consisted of a “significant

number” of shell companies—“that is, companies formed for the sole puipose of holding
property or funds and that do not engage in any legitimate business activity.” Id. at 42639.
According to FinCEN, from July 2007 to February 2013, at least 71 of these customers used
FBME’s address in Cyprus to transact with the U.S. financial system. Id.' The Notice also
claimed that a “significant volume” of FBME’s transactions “have little or no transparency and
often no apparent legitimate business purpose.”

Id.

As for FBME’s “legitimate activity,”

1
By no means are shell companies illegal or nefarious. Many corporations in the
United States and elsewhere use holding or “shell" companies for legitimate purposes. Certainly
the mere fact that FBME transacts with shell companies should not be a basis for a § 311
sanction.

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FinCEN concluded that “the limited amount o f information” available regarding Cypriot
branches o f foreign banks made it “difficult to assess” such activity for FBME. Id. at 42640
35.

Based on these preliminary findings, FinCEN proposed to revoke FBME’s ability

to access the U.S. financial system by imposing the “fifth special measure” under § 311.

FBME’s Public Comments On The Notice Of Finding
36.

FBME submitted public comment (“Comment”) on September 22, 2014.

FBME’s Comment described (1) numerous steps the Bank had taken, both before and after
FinCEN’s Notices, to evaluate its anti-money-laundering and compliance program, (2) the results
o f those evaluations, and (3) FBME’s actions to remediate discrete issues identified during the
evaluations. The Comment quoted analyses and reviews conducted by two highly respected
audit firms— KPMG and Ernst & Young— which found that, notwithstanding historical
deficiencies (generally predating 2012), FBME’s compliance program not only meets but in
some cases exceeds all applicable international standards, including the European Union’s Third
Money Laundering Directive and the fourth issue o f the Central Bank o f Cyprus’s Directive
regarding money laundering. That conclusion was documented in a September 2014 assessment
by Ernst & Young, which FBME submitted to FinCEN along with its Comment. Beyond that,
FBME had simultaneously solicited and begun implementing recommendations for further
enhancements to its internal controls as part o f an ongoing effort to improve in a manner
consistent with best practices.
37.

FBME also endeavored to respond to the allegations described in the Notice of

Finding. But the N otice’s lack o f specificity made this difficult. For example, FBME struggled
to pinpoint and investigate such vague accusations as: “As o f 2008, a financial advisor for a
major transnational organized crime figure who banked entirely at FBME in Cyprus maintained a
relationship with the owners o f FBME,” and “in 2008, an FBME customer received a deposit o f

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hundreds o f thousands o f dollars from a financier for Lebanese Hezbollah.” 79 Fed. Reg. at
42639. Despite its best efforts, the Bank was hard pressed to make sense o f the allegations
against it, much less address them with specificity. As the Bank explained in its Comment, it
could not respond fully to the charges against it “because the Notice lacks information required
for the Bank to identify the transaction(s) at issue, and the Treasury Department has not shared
any additional information pertaining to the alleged transaction-specific activities with the
Bank.” At the same time, FBME made clear its commitment to addressing the allegations in the
Notice and rooting out any criminal activity involving the Bank:
The Bank takes seriously any allegation that its customers have
used the Bank for illicit or illegal purposes. FBME looks forward
to providing additional information to FinCEN and cooperating
with U.S., Cypriot, and Tanzanian officials to halt any possible
criminal or other illicit activities o f third parties involving the
Bank.
38.

As opaque as FinCEN was in its Notice, at least two things were clear. First, none

o f the specific misconduct alleged in the Notice extended past 2012. That is, FinCEN identified
no transactions or account holders o f concern postdating the compliance updating and
remediation that FBME had been undertaking for years with the benefit o f reviews by KPMG
and Ernst & Young. Second, even as to the historical period on which FinCEN focused, only a
handful o f improper transactions were alleged, and there was no indication o f a systemic
problem.
39.

Notwithstanding the difficulty it faced trying to refute FinCEN’s cryptic

allegations, FBME did all it could to address those it could comprehend. To take one example,
the Notice referred to a fraud on a U.S. person in connection with a high-yield investment
program that involved an FBME account. See 79 Fed. Reg. at 42640. FBME explained that its
controls had flagged the transaction in question, but after further due diligence consistent with

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applicable standards, the customer provided sufficient information to establish the apparent
legitim acy o f the transaction. A year later, when the customer cleared a separate transaction
through another bank that appeared fraudulent, FBME immediately froze the customer’s FBME
account, conducted an independent investigation that called into question the legitimacy o f the
transactions, and reported the client to the appropriate Cypriot authorities. Id.
40.

That is not to suggest that FBME laid claim to perfection across its anti-money­

laundering and compliance programs. To the contrary, FBME acknowledged discrete historical
shortcomings, which formed the basis for improvement recommendations that KPMG and Ernst
& Young provided in 2013 and 2014. What is more, FBME demonstrated its willingness to
engage with FinCEN to implement whatever further enhancements to its compliance protocols
FinCEN might deem appropriate. As FBME noted in its Comment, rehabilitation is among the
Treasury Department’s stated goals in imposing special measures under § 311, and the
constructive engagement FBME sought was, by all indications, precisely what FinCEN was
seeking to facilitate and encourage under § 311.

FBME’s Additional Submissions To FinCEN
41.

To supplement its public comment, FBME submitted numerous letters and

hundreds o f pages o f documents to FinCEN, including reports conducted by KPMG and Ernst &
Young, detailed explanations o f FBME’s remedial efforts, and various alternative measures
FinCEN might adopt short o f applying § 311 ’s fifth special measure. On November 17, 2014,
FBME submitted approximately six hundred pages o f documents substantiating the conclusions
set forth in Ernst & Young’s September 2014 assessment.
42.

Four days later, on November 21, FBME wrote to FinCEN detailing how FBME

was implementing suggestions arising from KPMG’s and Ernst & Young’s reviews in 2013 and
2014. Notably, none o f the reviews identified any systemic problem with FBME’s anti-money-

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laundering or compliance programs. To the contrary, they confirmed that FBME’s protocols met
or exceeded international standards. Even so, FBME had revised its protocols for the sake of
addressing discrete shortcomings.

Out o f forty recommendations made by KPMG, FBME

already had fully implemented twenty nine as o f November 2014; six were ready for
implementation upon approval by regulatory authorities; two were in the process o f being
implemented; two were on schedule to be implemented by the end o f March 2015; and one was
inapplicable because it reflected a misunderstanding o f FBME’s procedures. Similarly, FBME
had already begun to address the sixteen recommendations made in Ernst & Young’s September
report, including by enhancing its employee training program and updating its customeridentification and due-diligence procedures.

Although FBME already used industry-leading

electronic screening solutions, it upgraded to its screening software and systems for investigating
alerts.
43.

Ten days later, on December 1, FBME submitted a separate transactional review

that Ernst & Young conducted specifically to investigate the allegations in the Notice o f Finding.
The letter and review responded to each o f the accusations in the Notice, one by the one (as best
they could be nailed down). Ernst & Young’s team o f professionals— who received all requested
support from FBME employees in reviewing the Bank’s files, transactions, and other
information— could identify no basis for the Notice’s allegations o f money laundering involving:
(1) financiers for Lebanese Hezbollah; (2) international narcotics traffickers; (3) transnational
organized crime figures; or (4) governmental entities or other persons or entities associated with
Equatorial Guinea.

Similarly, Ernst & Young confirmed that FBME’s compliance policies

worked as they should in the various instances at issue, and that FBME had taken appropriate
steps to report suspicious activity, freeze assets, and terminate customer relationships.

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example, although an FBME account had, in fact, been used in furtherance o f a fraud involving a
high-yield investment program and a phishing scheme before FBME instituted a freeze, there
was no reason why these transactions should have triggered red flags under appropriate protocols
that were in place. Finally, Ernst & Young confirmed that although the other criticisms in the
Notice did not reflect violations o f international standards, FBME nevertheless had not only
addressed the criticisms but in one instance implemented curative reforms more than five years
earlier. Id.

FBME’s Repeated But Unsuccessful Requests For Meaningful Specifics
44.

Recognizing that the N otice’s lack o f specificity (combined with FinCEN’s

subsequent refusal to come forward with specifics) relegated FBME and Ernst & Young to
guesswork in responding, FBME again requested in its December 1 letter specifics that would
enable further investigation o f FinCEN’s allegations. Again, it received no response.
45.

On at least eight occasions before January 5, 2015, the Bank’s lawyers also

requested a meeting with FinCEN to discuss the Notices. FinCEN declined to respond. Only
after the Bank’s lawyers made a request to the Treasury Department did FinCEN finally consent
to a meeting, which was held in FinCEN’s offices on January 21, 2015.
46.

At the meeting, FBME’s counsel emphasized that:

(l)th e N otice gave no

consideration to the fact that the overwhelming number o f FBME account transactions are,
beyond question, legitimate business transactions; (2) the most recent misconduct alleged in the
Notice occurred in 2012; (3) FBME had overhauled its compliance protocols beginning long
before the Notice and continuing through the present; (4) notwithstanding the staleness o f
FinCEN’s allegations and the substantial reforms already undertaken, FBME took FinCEN’s
concerns seriously and continued to make every effort to address them; and (5) towards that end,

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FBME was eager for details that would enable further response and remediation as and if
appropriate.
47.

FBME followed up with a letter to FinCEN, dated January 26, 2015, in which it

asked for more information about seven specific allegations in the Notice. After nearly a month,
FinCEN finally responded. In a letter dated February 24, FinCEN addressed each of the seven
allegations in turn. For six of the seven, it provided the same stonewalling response emblematic
of its entire approach to this § 311 proceeding: “FinCEN is unable to release additional
information in response to this question beyond the statements within the Notice of Finding.”
(FinCEN identified the seventh transaction, which had already been disclosed in a federal
lawsuit.)
FinCEN’s Disregard O f Less Extreme Sanctions Available Under § 311

48.

In nearly every communication with FinCEN, the Bank made clear its

commitment to work constructively in processing and addressing FinCEN’s concerns.

For

example, counsel for FBME spoke with FinCEN Director Jennifer Shasky Calvery at the
American Bar Association’s Money Faundering Enforcement Conference in National Harbor,
MD in November 2014. Among other things, Director Shasky Calvery acknowledged that
FinCEN’s approach was designed, at least in part, to rehabilitate the Bank.
49.

At the meeting on January 21, 2015, FBME’s counsel had explained that the fifth

special measure would be disproportionate and excessive, especially as compared to another
recent enforcement action involving far more egregious circumstances in which FinCEN
imposed only a fine. In subsequent letters, FBME’s counsel noted that imposing the fifth special
measure on FBME would be anti-rehabilitative, as it could go so far as to put FBME out of
business.

FBME proposed numerous alternative measures—such as FinCEN appointing a

special monitor, imposing heightened reporting requirements for FBME, or levying a fine—that

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(even crediting arguendo FinCEN’s stated concerns) would be more appropriate and would
further the goal of rehabilitation.
50.

FinCEN's

treatment

of other financial

institutions

disproportional it is to impose the fifth special measure in this case.

showed just how
FBME specifically

identified five recent examples of FinCEN levying only a fine in situations where (as in this
case) FinCEN alleged that a financial institution failed to maintain adequate compliance
programs or engaged in suspicious transactions. FinCEN typically reserved the fifth special
measure for more outrageous conduct, such as when a bank’s high-level managers were actively
complicit in money laundering. Because nothing so egregious was alleged at FBME, a lesser
sanction would have been far more congruent with FinCEN's practice.

But FinCEN was

unmoved by FBME’s calls for equal treatment and proportional punishment.
FinCEN’s Final Rule.

51.

On July 29, 2015, FinCEN published in the Federal Register the Final Rule

imposing the fifth special measure under § 311. 80 Fed. Reg. 45057 (July 29, 2015). While
purporting to address FBME's voluminous submissions, the Final Rule ignores Ernst & Young’s
findings that FBME's current anti-money-laundering program fully satisfies EU and Cypriot
standards and reflects a pattern of continuous improvements. Tellingly, the Final Rule identifies
no applicable compliance standard that FBME does not meet.
52.

Instead, the Final Rule declares "FBME's argument that its [anti-money

laundering] compliance program is now adequate is weakened by the list of illicit actors
identified in the [Notice of Finding] that have continued to make use of FBME as recently as
2014. including narcotics traffickers, terrorist financiers, and organized crime figures.” Id. at
45059. In fact, FinCEN has kept hidden “the list of illicit actors” it supposedly "identified,” and
none of the allegations in the Notice (or, for that matter, the Final Rule) were “as recent[] as

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2014.” After an extensive and exhaustive analysis o f FBME’s account holders and transactions
utilizing publicly available information, Ernst & Young could identify no evidence o f any such
illicit actors making use o f FBME.
53.

The only concession FinCEN makes in the Final Rule to the hard facts proved by

FBME is extremely begrudging: “[A]fter a thorough review o f these materials, FinCEN believes
that [with two minor exceptions], the statements made in the [Notice o f Finding] remain true and
accurate, and that FBME is o f ‘primary money laundering concern.’” Id. 45060.

FinCEN

neither addresses the extensive contrary evidence FBME submitted, nor specifies what
affirmative evidence leaves it convinced.

A ll FinCEN offers is conclusory ipse dixit that

“information available to FinCEN”— but not to FBME— “makes it reasonable to conclude that
FBME’s management facilitated, either actively or passively, the illicit activities o f its customers,
as FinCEN set forth in the [Notice o f Finding].” Id. at 45059.
54.

Perhaps most astonishingly o f all, the Final Rule offers no explanation whatsoever

as to why FBME warrants the fifth special measure even though far more egregious failures
resulted in no such drastic sanction for other regulated entities. As for FBME’s customers, the
Final Rule notes the existence o f “other banks in both Cyprus and Tanzania that could alleviate
potential impact on legitimate business activities within those jurisdictions.” 80 Fed. Reg. at
45061. That is cold comfort considering that FBME is the largest bank by assets in Tanzania,
that other banks in Cyprus have been racked by instability, and that FBME’s customers are about
to lose essential financing for ongoing projects financed by FBME.

FBME Will Be Cut Off From Transacting In U.S. Dollars
55.

The Final Rule prohibits any U.S. financial institution from “establishing,

maintaining, administering, or managing a correspondent account in the United States for, or on
behalf of, FBME.”

80 Fed. Reg. at 45062.

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“correspondent account"2 that "includes most types of banking relationships with a U.S.
depository institution and a foreign bank that are established to provide regular services,
dealings, and other financial transactions." Id. In other words, the sanction prohibits any U.S.
bank from engaging in any type of financial transaction with FBME, either directly or through a
financial intermediary.
56.

The repercussions of this reach far beyond the United States. Any U.S. bank

would be violating FinCEN’s Final Rule if FBME is anywhere upstream or downstream on any
given transaction. The upshot is to foreclose any FBME transaction involving U.S. dollars,
because any such transaction must pass through a U.S. correspondent account. In short, when
the Final Rule becomes effective on August 28. 2015, FBME will be permanently cut off from
the U.S. financial system, thereby requiring that FBME fundamentally transform its business in
order to survive (assuming regulators do not liquidate or sell the Bank first).
Foreign Regulators Are Poised To Pursue
Follow-On A ctions To Liquidate Or Sell The Bank

57.

Were that not enough, the Cypriot government is now poised to force the Bank

into liquidation or sale because of the Final Rule. The day after FinCEN issued its July 2014
Notice, the Cypriot government granted the Bank’s regulator, the state-owned Central Bank of
Cyprus, authority over FBME’s Cyprus branches, and authorized the Central Bank to unilaterally
sell them. To effectuate the sale, the Central Bank quickly appointed a Special Administrator,
who immediately took steps to identify potential buyers, albeit unsuccessfully. The Special
Administrator’s efforts were halted (at least temporarily) by FBME’s shareholders, who initiated

2
Specifically, “correspondent accounts” is defined as any “account established to
receive deposits from, or make payments or other disbursements on behalf of, a foreign bank, or
to handle other financial transactions related to the foreign bank.” 80 Fed. Reg. at 45062.

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proceedings in the International Court of Arbitration under a bilateral treaty protecting Cypriotbased investments. The arbitral tribunal ordered the Central Bank to refrain from taking any
measures that would destroy FBME Cyprus, unless the Central Bank found such measures to be
absolutely necessary, in which case it had to provide 30-days notice before taking action.
58.

Upon publication of the Final Rule, the Central Bank pounced. On August 3,

2015, the Central Bank sent FBME a letter stating it was providing the 30-days notice required
by the tribunal so that it could take adverse actions against FBME. up to and including
revocation of FBME’s license and liquidation of its Cyprus branches. Motivating this decision,
the Central Bank explained, was “the issuance by FinCEN of the Final Rule."’ In a remarkable
paragraph apparently crafted with an eye towards this lawsuit (which undersigned counsel had
alerted FinCEN and the Department of Justice would be forthcoming) the Central Bank added
that it “does not concede that any of the foregoing steps would destroy irreparably the business
of FBME or FBME Cyprus Branch.”
59.

In response, the ultimate beneficial owners ("owners") of FBME sent the Central

Bank a letter stating that the August 3 Letter afforded insufficient notice under the Tribunal’s
order. In addition, the owners questioned the disproportionality of the Central Bank’s response
to the Final Rule. Furthermore, the owners suggested that, before the effective date of the Final
Rule, the Central Bank assist FBME in restructuring the small but viable portion of the business
that still remains. Last, the owners apprised the Central Bank that liquidation of FBME’s Cyprus
branches will destroy what remains of the Bank.
60.

The Tanzanian government has been moving in parallel. Following the issuance

of the Notice in July 2014. the Bank of Tanzania (which regulates FBME) installed a statutory
manager to oversee FBME. and to liquidate or sell the Tanzanian branch if necessary. The

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manager told FBME that Tanzania considered FinCEN’s Notice to be a “compliance issue” and
they created no reason for alarm or overreaction from the Bank o f Tanzania. As a result, FBME
successfully convinced the Tanzanian regulators to temporarily refrain from following the same
course as the Central Bank o f Cyprus.

This understanding was reached largely thanks to

Tanzania’s recognition that the Notice was preliminary.
61.

FinCEN’s issuance o f the Final Rule now threatens that understanding. After the

Final Rule came out, the Bank o f Tanzania issued a public announcement:
[T]he Bank o f Tanzania has been monitoring FBME’s operations
while awaiting FinCEN investigation and Final Rule on
FBME.. . . The Bank o f Tanzania is aware that the Final Rule
issued by FinCEN w ill affect the future o f FBME and currently is
reviewing the situation with the view o f determining an
appropriate course o f action for the bank including resolution
options as governed by law.
The “resolution options” under contemplation by the Bank o f Tanzania include liquidation o f
FBME.

Innocent Third Parties Face Harm
62.

Beyond wreaking havoc on the Bank itself, the Final Rule w ill injure many others

who depend on the Bank. Individuals with deposits at the Bank face substantial risk o f losses in
a liquidation. Clients who rely on the Bank for international commercial banking services will
no longer be able to obtain them. And many employees o f the Bank w ill be terminated when the
Bank is forced to cease its international commercial operations and downsize.

FBME Tries To Avoid the Need for Litigation
63.

On July 30, 2015, the day after the Final Rule was published, counsel for FBME

contacted both FinCEN and its counsel at the U.S. Department o f Justice to propose an
agreement that might obviate need for litigation or a preliminary injunction. Specifically, the
Bank proposed that (i) the Final Rule be rescinded (which would avoid any litigation) or (ii) the

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Final Rule have its effective date delayed until after a full merits hearing (which would avoid the
need for a preliminary injunction).
64.

In multiple emails and telephone calls over the following days, counsel for FBME

and counsel at the U.S. Department o f Justice discussed FBME’s legal claims and its proposal
for rescinding or delaying the Final Rule.

Talks continued until August 6, 2015, when the

Department o f Justice informed FBME’s counsel that FinCEN would not rescind or delay the
Final Rule.
65.

The next day, FBME filed this lawsuit.

Count I - Administrative Procedure Act
(Final Rule Was Promulgated Without Observance of Procedure Required by Law)
66.

Plaintiffs repeat, re-allege, and incorporate the allegations in the preceding

paragraphs.
67.

The Administrative Procedure Act requires a federal agency to notify interested

parties o f any regulation it proposes adopting. The notice must include enough detail o f the
regulation’s content, and o f its factual and legal basis, to allow for meaningful and informed
comment by interested parties. An agency commits disabling procedural error when it fails to
reveal portions o f the factual basis underlying a regulation.
68.

Defendants failed to provide adequate notice and a meaningful opportunity for the

Plaintiffs to comment on the Final Rule. In the Notice o f Finding, FinCEN accused FBME o f a
variety o f misconduct, including facilitating a handful o f incidents o f money laundering. Most of
the critical factual allegations, however, are written in terms so vague that Plaintiffs could neither
investigate nor refute them. FBME repeatedly requested that FinCEN provide specifics o f the
accusations against it— such as names, dates, or other information that would enable FBME to
identify the alleged misconduct—but FinCEN refused to supply them.

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shared the supposed evidence underlying these allegations.

Page 24 of 28

Without such information, the

Plaintiffs could not meaningfully comment on the rule as they otherwise would have.
69.

FinCEN then relied on its secret allegations when it issued the Final Rule and

branded FBME a “primary money laundering concern” that supposedly deserves imposition of
the fifth special measure.
70.

For such reasons and in such respects, the Final Rule was promulgated without

observance of the procedure required by law. in violation of the Administrative Procedure Act.
Count II - A dm inistrative Procedure Act
(Final Rule Is Arbitrary, Capricious, an Abuse o f Discretion,
or Otherwise Not in Accordance with Law)

71.

Plaintiffs repeat, re-allege, and incorporate the allegations in the preceding

paragraphs.
72.

The Administrative Procedure Act prohibits agency action that is arbitrary,

capricious, an abuse of discretion, or otherwise not in accordance with law.
73.

An agency regulation is arbitrary and capricious if (among other things) the

agency (1) failed to examine the relevant data and articulate a satisfactory explanation for its
action, including a rational connection between the facts found and the choice made; (2) failed to
consider an important aspect of the problem; (3) offered an explanation for its decision that runs
counter to the evidence before it; and/or (4) defies the text of a statute or reflects an unreasonable
interpretation thereof.
74.

In this case, FinCEN failed to consider the relevant data submitted by the Bank,

failed to articulate a rational connection between the facts and the Final Rule, and failed to
account for the contrary evidence before it.

FBME submitted extensive information to

FinCEN—including audits from neutral third parties KPMG and Ernst & Young—documenting
the conscientiousness of its anti-money-laundering controls and refuting specific allegations

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leveled against it in the Notice of Finding (at least those allegations that the Bank could make
sense of from the Notice). The evidence submitted showed that FinCEN's Notice of Finding was
based on inaccurate, incomplete, or outdated information in crucial respects.

But FinCEN

ignored it. A regulation based on outdated or stale and erroneous data is arbitrary and capricious,
especially when the agency possesses newer and better data.
75.

The Final Rule also failed to consider the requisite § 311 factors or explain why

FBME is of “primary” money laundering concern. Nothing in the Final Rule indicates that
FBME is of special or primary concern to the Secretary of the Treasury. Nor is there anything to
suggest that FBME exists primarily to launder funds. To the contrary, the record leaves no doubt
that the overwhelming number of FBME account transactions are legitimate business
transactions (a fact that the Notice of Finding and Final Rule neglect to mention). In determining
whether an entity is of “primary money laundering concern,” § 311 requires an agency to
consider “the extent to which” the entity was used to facilitate or promote money laundering.
FinCEN did not consider this factor at all. An agency must articulate a satisfactory explanation
for its action including a rational connection between the facts found and the choice made, and it
cannot ignore an important aspect of the problem, such as one of the statutory elements. For
FinCEN to impose the harshest possible sanction under § 311 without explaining how the facts
satisfy the statutory predicate was arbitrary and capricious in the extreme.
76.

FinCEN also failed to account adequately for the other factors that § 311 requires

the agency to consider before deeming an organization to be a “primary money laundering
concern” and imposing the fifth special measure.

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 Case l:15-cv-01270-CRC

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Relatedly, FinCEN has further transgressed its authority to the extent that it

disregarded Congress’ statutory prescription in § 311 specifically with respect to the term
“primary money laundering concern,” or unreasonably interpreted that term.
78.

The Final Rule also imposed an excessive and disproportionate penalty while

failing to consider obvious alternatives. FinCEN has imposed lesser penalties against financial
institutions that have engaged in conduct far worse than anything alleged against FBME. Yet the
Final Rule contains no discussion of any alternative sanctions available. Nor does it explain why
imposing the fifth special measure is an appropriate and proportional response considering the
facts of this case and how FinCEN has treated similarly-situated parties. A regulation that
imposes an excessive and disproportionate penalty is arbitrary and capricious, as is a regulation
that fails to consider obvious alternatives.
79.

For these reasons, the Final Rule is arbitrary, capricious, an abuse of discretion, or

otherwise not in accordance with law, all in violation of the Administrative Procedure Act.
Count HI - Due Process
(Failure To Provide Notice and a Hearing)

80.

Plaintiffs repeat, re-allege. and incorporate the allegations in the preceding

paragraphs.
81.

The Due Process Clause of the Fifth Amendment guarantees that “no person shall

. . . be deprived of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law.” At its core, due process
promises both effective notice and a meaningful opportunity to be heard.
82.

Notice of a deprivation of property must convey sufficient information for

interested parties to have an opportunity to present their objections. In other words, due process
requires that a party facing deprivation of its property be given notice of the case against it.

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The opportunity to be heard must (barring exceptional circumstances not present

here) occur before the deprivation. And, at a minimum, a party being deprived of property must
have a meaningful opportunity to present its case to a neutral decisionmaker.
84.

The Final Rule, when it goes into effect on August 28, 2015, will deprive FBME

of a property interest by blocking it from accessing any correspondent account in the United
States and by preventing it from accessing funds currently held on the Bank’s behalf in North
Carolina.
85.

Defendants have refused to provide effective notice of this deprivation. In the

Notice of Finding, FinCEN accused FBME of a variety of misconduct, including facilitating a
handful of incidents of money laundering. Most of the critical factual allegations, however, are
written in terms so vague that the Plaintiffs could neither investigate nor refute them. FBME
repeatedly requested that FinCEN provide specifics of the accusations against it—such as names,
dates, or other information that would enable FBME to identify the alleged misconduct—but
FinCEN refused to supply them. FinCEN also never shared the supposed evidence underlying
these allegations. Without such information, the Plaintiffs lacked proper, requisite notice of the
case against FBME.
86.

FinCEN has also failed to provide a meaningful opportunity to be heard. At no

time over the course of FinCEN’s “rulemaking”—which was really an adjudication in which
FinCEN pronounced FBME guilty of unspecified money-laundering charges—was the Bank
ever offered or provided any hearing, let alone a hearing before a neutral arbiter.
87.

For these reasons, the Final Rule, when it goes into effect on August 28, 2015,

will deprive FBME of its property interest without due process of law, in violation of the Due
Process Clause of the Fifth Amendment.

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Prayer for Relief

Wherefore. Plaintiffs request judgment be entered in their favor as follows:
A. An order preliminary enjoining the Final Rule from taking effect until this Court
enters afinal judgment in this case.

B. An order holding unlawful and setting aside the Final Rule.

C. An order pennanently enjoining the Final Rule as unlawful and invalid,
D. An award of costs and attorneys' fees under any applicable statute or authority.
E. A grant of such ndditional or different relief as the Court deems just and proper.
Dated: August 7. 2015 Respectfully submitted
QUINN EMANUEL URQUHART 
SULLIVAN LLP

Derek L. Shag"
Derek L. Shaffer (D.C. Bar No. 478775)

William A. Burck (D Bar No. 4015426)

Jonathan C. Cooper (D.C. Bar No. 999764)
777 Sixth Street NW, 11m Floor
Washington, DC 20001

(202) 538-3000

HOGAN LOVELLS US LLP

Peter S. Sgivack
Peter S. Spivack Bar No. 4537:")

J. Evans Rice HI (D.C. Bar No. 481768)
555 Thirteenth Street NW

Washington. DC 20004

(202) 637-5600

Anumey: for Plaimifis
FBME Bank Ltd. and FBME Lid.

27