By Nupur Anand

NEW YORK (Reuters) – U.S. regulators warned bankers on Wednesday that the government will continue to enhance efforts to combat money laundering and enforce know-your-customer rules.

One week after Donald Trump's presidential election victory, banking industry experts gathered in New York, focusing on his leadership choices and plans for deregulation. However, financial crimes remained a bipartisan concern, attendees noted.

Blocking criminals from utilizing banks for illicit activities has been a priority, and enforcement actions will emphasize compliance with the Bank Secrecy Act, stated Whitney Case, associate director of the enforcement and compliance division at the Treasury Department's Financial Crimes Enforcement Network.

Case added, "In the BSA/AML universe, we have a broad remit, so we will continue to see a variety of actions against different financial institutions."

Officials are intensifying scrutiny of banks’ operations and risk management practices, taking more disciplinary measures against lenders regarding their anti-money laundering efforts, regulatory sources reported.

Greg Coleman, senior deputy comptroller for large banks at the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency, noted that emerging weaknesses in these areas require prompt attention.

This scrutiny is expected to persist after TD Bank was slapped with a record $3 billion fine last month for breaching U.S. laws preventing money laundering.

Case emphasized, "In the TD Bank case, significant gaps in monitoring left us, supervisory and enforcement colleagues, in a position where we must take action."

TD, Canada's second-largest bank, pleaded guilty to money laundering conspiracies and received a rare asset cap from U.S. regulators due to its failures.

Beyond TD, regulators are also examining other lenders' measures against money laundering.

In September, the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency announced restrictions on Wells Fargo's ability to venture into riskier businesses after discovering insufficient safeguards against money laundering and other illegal transactions.

Separately, Bank of America, the second-largest lender in the U.S., indicated last month that it might face regulatory actions for its programs aimed at identifying money laundering and sanctions evasion.