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Voluntary guidelines don't "ensure" Ex-Im Bank won't give more loans to drug cartels

By Gritsforbreakfast

According to the Sarbanes-Oxley Compliance Journal, the Ex-Im Bank's new "Know Your Customer" initiative - which Grits readers will recall was created after WFAA-TV reporter Byron Harris in Dallas revealed the agency had given loans to figures associated with drug cartels - will be "ensuring that Ex-Im Bank supports creditworthy and legitimate transactions."The problem is, the Know Your Customer background checks that would notify authorities of drug-related loans aren't mandatory under the guidelines.So how does that "ensure" anything? It's one thing to identify "best practices"; it's quite another to require them to be implemented before your loanmakers give taxpayers' money to criminal smuggling gangs.I'd like to see the Government Accounting Office or some independent auditor follow up on WFAA's revelations about Ex-Im Bank loans to drug cartels...continue to full post

Full post as published by Grits for Breakfast on February 19, 2008 (boomark / email).