Washington -- Both the Senate and House of Representatives have cleared anti-money laundering legislation that aims to cut off financing channels for terrorist networks.

The legislation is attached to a broader anti-terrorism bill, and was approved in the House October 24 by a vote of 357-66. The Senate followed suit the next day, with a 98-1 vote.

"I look forward to signing this strong bipartisan plan into law so that we can combat terrorism and prevent future attacks," President Bush said in a statement following the House vote.

Money laundering involves moving funds through financial institutions or accounts to disguise their origin or purpose.

The money-laundering provisions of the terrorism bill include new rules barring U.S. banks from most dealings with overseas "shell" banks that have no physical presence anywhere.

They impose new requirements on so-called "correspondent accounts," which allow foreign banks to use U.S. banks' services, thus giving them direct access to the U.S. financial system.

Provisions also require financial institutions that establish or administer correspondent accounts to establish appropriate "due diligence" policies for detecting and reporting instances of money laundering through those accounts.

The bill gives the U.S. Treasury new powers to target foreign countries and banks believed to present a money-laundering threat. It requires U.S. banks to keep detailed records of dealings with those institutions or jurisdictions.

The bill also makes it illegal to smuggle more than $10,000 in cash in or out of the United States.

In an effort to keep the U.S. securities industry from acting as a conduit for illicit money, the legislation gives the Treasury until the end of the year to issue rules requiring securities brokers to file reports with regulators on large, suspicious currency transactions. U.S. banks already function under such requirements.

The measure also increases the monetary penalties for financial institutions that violate international money-laundering laws. The penalties must be worth at least two times the amount of the transaction, but may not exceed $1,000,000.

Money laundering is estimated by the International Monetary Fund to amount to between 2 and 5 percent of global gross domestic product, which is at least $600,000 million annually.