Don’t be an unwitting accomplice to money laundering: It’s all about due diligence

For more than twenty years, the U.S. government and other national governments around the world have worked to combat money laundering domestically and across borders. They want transactional attorneys, including those who close real estate deals, to take steps to assist them in these endeavors. To assist in this process, the American Bar Association (ABA) came up with a set of good practice guidelines to help legal professionals identify and mitigate risks. During the Attorneys' Title Fund Services LLC Annual Assembly, Kevin Shepherd, partner and managing director of finance at Venable LLP in Baltimore, Md., and a former chair of the ABA’s Section of Real Property, Trust & Estate Law, discussed the guidance and how to implement it.