The United States has developed a highly effective food safety system, and as our Chairman has effectively argued, we don't want contaminated food from abroad slipping into our food supply. So, for example, when it comes to meat, we accept only that meat from countries which have inspection systems that meet our standards. That's how we protect ourselves. We don't want contaminated food, and we shouldn't accept contaminated banks. That's why all of the experts we heard and several officers of our nation's largest banks have said shell banks should be banned from U.S. correspondent accounts, period.
Shell banks are banks with no physical presence, oftentimes no staff, and no real regulation.
If such a prohibition were in place, all 400 of Nauru's shell banks would lose their access to U.S. dollar accounts. So would the more than 50 Vanuatu shell banks. So would the many shell banks licensed in the Caribbean and operating in Latin America. So would the Montenegro shell banks using the Bank of Montenegro's correspondent accounts. So would all the shell banks being sold on the Internet.