The routine practice of seeking bids for county banking services brought up an interesting topic at the regular meeting of the Platte County commissioners this week.
County treasurer Rob Willard requested approval to seek banking bids at the Monday, May 3 meeting, held at the Platte County Resource Center in Kansas City. State statute requires the county to seek new bids for its banking needs every four years.
First district commissioner Dagmar Wood asked Willard about a conversation the two had in the past regarding county investment policy, particularly involving terrorist organizations and China.
Willard said he wrote changes to county policy in the wake of criminal action by Bank of the West parent company BNP Paribas in 2014. The French banking conglomerate pleaded guilty to federal charges and was ordered to pay almost $9 billion in fines on allegations it had funneled money from blacklisted nations through its U.S. banks. Transactions involved business in Sudan, Iran and Cuba in violation of U.S. sanctions.
“I amended the financial policy to make a specific provision that if a bank is found in violation of these sanctions by doing business with terrorist organizations it would not be allowed to do business with Platte County,” he said.
Willard has also spoken to the state about including China in the list of prohibited nations, although in the past the county has held investments in Chinese banks. He said that is no longer the case as the office tries whenever possible to invest locally.
“It has been a couple of years since I’ve reviewed the investment policy and I believe in the current climate it’s appropriate to take another look at it,” he said. “I really believe the investment policy is a vehicle for the values of this county, the values of our country, and how we do business and that’s why we focus on local investment.”
Also at the meeting, commissioners approved an application for federal grant funding to the tune of more than $250,000 for the Missouri Western Interdiction and Narcotics Task Force (MoWIN).
Platte County has participated in the task for several years, according to Major Erik Holland of the Platte County Sheriff’s Office. Several regional task forces were combined under the umbrella of MoWIN, with the City of Kansas City administering the grant funding for the past several years. This year, Platte County will take over funding administration for the entire program.
Holland said the task force has conducted more than 1,000 investigations and confiscated thousands of pounds of illicit drugs in 2019-2020. Three Platte County deputies and a sergeant are currently assigned to the task force.
As Platte County already oversees the Cyber Crimes Task Force, Holland said the sheriff’s office was the best positioned in the area to take over management from Kansas City.