MoneyGram is the Industry Leader in Compliance
and Has Invested Heavily to Protect Consumers and Underprivileged
Communities Against Harm
Regulators' Unreasonable Demands Forced the
Company to Litigate, but MoneyGram is Fully Prepared to Defend
Itself and its Best-in-Class Compliance Program in Court
DALLAS, April 22,
2022 /PRNewswire/ -- MoneyGram International,
Inc. (NASDAQ: MGI), a global leader in the evolution of
digital P2P payments, responded to the meritless civil lawsuit
filed by the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau ("CFPB") and the
New York Attorney General ("NYAG")
and baseless claims issued by the CFPB and its director. The
Company issued the following statement:
As the industry leader in compliance and
consumer protection, MoneyGram is deeply disappointed that the CFPB
and NYAG chose to file yesterday's meritless lawsuit and that the
CFPB chose to issue two press releases littered with gratuitous and
inaccurate statements about the Company and the allegations in the
case. The Company is fully prepared to vigorously defend itself and
expose the meritless nature of the lawsuit in court.
MoneyGram cares deeply about its customers and
is committed to consumer protection. Over the past decade, the
Company has invested more than $800
million to enhance its compliance program and doubled the
size of its compliance team to build a best-in-class program with
record-low consumer fraud complaints. MoneyGram also created a
Compliance and Ethics Committee of the Board of Directors that
actively oversees the Company's compliance function, and the
Company continuously implements enhancements to ensure that it
meets and exceeds industry best practices.
Notably, just last year the U.S. Department of
Justice recognized the Company's compliance program when it
terminated its deferred prosecution agreement and dismissed old
claims against the Company. This result occurred shortly after an
independent corporate compliance monitor conducted a lengthy review
of MoneyGram's compliance program and certified that the Company's
"anti-fraud and anti-money laundering compliance program, including
its policies and procedures, are reasonably designed and
implemented to detect and prevent fraud and money laundering and to
comply with the Bank Secrecy Act." Additionally, just last month we
reached an agreement with the New York Department of Financial
Services ("NYDFS") to settle a legacy issue. In connection with the
settlement, the NYDFS commended MoneyGram for its cooperation and
for undertaking significant enhancements to our compliance program
and remediation to prevent similar violations from occurring.
We spent considerable time attempting to educate
the CFPB and NYAG about our robust and effective compliance efforts
and the weakness of their case, including their failure to show any
actual consumer harm. In fact, over the past two years, MoneyGram
fully cooperated with the CFPB's inquiries and produced tens
of thousands of documents. More recently, we proactively engaged
with the NYAG to educate them on the facts after they joined the
CFPB's case. The Company attempted, in good faith, to negotiate a
reasonable resolution, but faced only unreasonable and
unprecedented demands in return. In the end, the Company
refused to be strong-armed into an unfair settlement and MoneyGram
was given no choice but to litigate this matter and to defend
itself in court.
In connection with the filing of yesterday's
complaint, the CFPB director unfortunately chose to issue two press
releases that made gratuitous and unfounded public remarks against
the Company. However, the actual allegations in the complaint
fail to live up to the hyperbolic statements about the Company. In
contrast to the CFPB's public statements, the complaint itself
alleges only technical and time-barred infractions of the
Remittance Rule and Regulation E and fails to demonstrate any
consumer harm or programmatic non-compliance in this regard.
MoneyGram stands behind its compliance program
and its treatment of customers – as demonstrated by our strong
customer experience scores, 4.9-star rated app, consumer trust
ratings and remarkably high customer retention rates. We look
forward to vigorously defending our compliance program and
commitment to consumers in court.
About MoneyGram International, Inc.
MoneyGram International, Inc. (NASDAQ: MGI), a global leader in the
evolution of digital P2P payments, delivers innovative financial
solutions to connect the world's communities. With a purpose-driven
strategy to mobilize the movement of money, a strong culture of
fintech innovation, and leading customer-centric capabilities,
MoneyGram has grown to serve over 150 million people in the last
five years. The Company leverages its modern, mobile, and
API-driven platform and collaborates with the world's top brands to
serve consumers through its direct-to-consumer digital channel,
global retail network, and embedded finance business for enterprise
customers. MoneyGram is also a leader in pioneering cross-border
payment innovation and blockchain-enabled settlement. For more
information, please visit ir.moneygram.com, follow @MoneyGram on
social media, and explore the website and mobile app through
moneygram.com.
Media Contact
Sydney Schoolfield
media@moneygram.com
OR
Longacre Square Partners
moneygram@longacresquare.com
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SOURCE MoneyGram