The U.S. government will further expand its use of sanctions as a national security tool, despite the compliance challenges inflicted on banks and possible reductions in financial services availability in some parts of the world, a U.S. State Department official said Monday at an anti-money laundering conference in Las Vegas. "In the years ahead, sanctions and (anti-money laundering) tools are poised to continue their rise as a preeminent role in U.S. foreign policy. I think they'll become a more precise and a stronger tool of statecraft. And they will continue to present us with new policy and implementation challenges," Peter Harrell, the Department's deputy assistant secretary for counter threat finance and sanctions, said during a speech at the conference held by the Association of Certified Anti-Money Laundering Specialists. He told the audience of roughly 2,000 compliance professionals, lawyers and others that although the work of compliance officers will be a "critical piece
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