Sept. 14, 2010, 4:41 p.m. EDT

http://www.marketwatch.com/story/western-union-hosts-fifth-annual-anti-money-laundering-anti-fraud-conference-2010-09-14?reflink=MW_news_stmp

ENGLEWOOD, Colo., Sep 14, 2010 (BUSINESS WIRE) -- The Western Union Company is hosting itsfifth Annual Anti-Money Laundering & Anti-Fraud Compliance Conference from Sept. 13 to Sept. 16 in Denver.

The annual event brings together Anti-Money Laundering (AML) compliance officers from Western Union's largest Agents in the U.S. and Canada with federal and state regulators and law enforcement. The goal of the event is to continually improve Western Union Agents' effectiveness at preventing money laundering and fraud.

Western Union is a money services business (MSB), or non-bank financial institution, which provides its services to consumers through a broad network of third-party Agents including banks, postal organizations, grocery stores and other retailers worldwide.

"We clearly understand our responsibility to protect consumers and the global financial system from potential abuse, and that is what this conference is focused on," said Stewart Stockdale, President, The Americas and Executive Vice President, Global Cards and Global Key Accounts. "At Western Union, we view anti-money laundering as a core part of our business, and also as a competitive advantage."

The conference was introduced in 2006 as a way to provide continuing education to Western Union Agents on anti-money laundering best practices, regulations and law-enforcement trends. It has since grown into one of North America's largest anti-money laundering/anti-fraud conferences focused entirely on the MSB industry. This year's conference includes more than 200 attendees from across the U.S. and Canada.

The conference features presentations from the financial services industry's federal regulators and law enforcement in the U.S. and Canada, including the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN) of the U.S. Treasury Department and the Financial Transactions and Reports Analysis Centre (FINTRAC) of Canada's Ministry of Finance. Also presenting are representatives of the U.S. Department of Justice, U.S. Internal Revenue Service (IRS), Immigration & Customs Enforcement of the U.S. Department of Homeland Security, and other state regulators and law enforcement.