A new push by regulators and lawmakers to hold individuals, rather than just institutions, accountable for regulatory violations involving money laundering is spooking members of the U.S. financial industry, an executive of retail broker E*Trade Financial said on Thursday. Speaking on a panel at an annual anti-money laundering conference, John Davidson, E*Trade's global head of anti-money laundering, called a new bill in Congress, as well as vows by regulators to take more action against individuals, "a little scary." "This is part of an incredibly disturbing trend," Davidson said, adding that sanctions against individuals responsible for a financial firm's anti-money laundering controls could have consequences that turn out to be far more severe than the violations for which the individuals were penalized. He said a sanction against an anti-money laundering compliance officer was often a career-ending prospect. His protest came as regulators appearing at the event - the Securities
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