Yet the closing of accounts for these types of businesses runs the risk of effectively denying banking services to many categories of legitimate customers. Banking organizations have also begun to file "defensive" SARs in an effort to avoid any criticism of their judgment about whether some activity is illegal or suspicious, and to avoid sanctions for failing to file particular SARs.
History tells us that the more unbalanced an economy is, the lower its level of growth and the greater its vulnerability to negative external shocks. The correction of economic imbalances is therefore essential for preventing future crises and for achieving sustainable growth. Against this backdrop, I think that this conference focused on the issue of economic rebalancing is both deeply meaningful and timely.