The Council of the European Union (Council) has updated its EU Best Practices for the Effective Implementation of Restrictive Measures. Published on 3 July 2024, the new version clarifies the threshold for the ownership test...more
The Department of the Treasury’s Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN) has proposed a rule (the Proposed Rule) to implement certain aspects of the Anti-Money Laundering Act of 2020 (the AML Act), which updated the...more
7/17/2024
/ AML/CFT ,
Anti-Money Laundering ,
Anti-Terrorism Financing ,
Bank Secrecy Act ,
Financial Institutions ,
Financial Regulatory Reform ,
FinCEN ,
Investment Management ,
Popular ,
Proposed Rules ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC)
The U.S. Treasury Department’s Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN) has recently taken steps to expand the reach of the Bank Secrecy Act (BSA) and related customer identification regulations. These steps build on...more
5/30/2024
/ AML/CFT ,
Anti-Money Laundering ,
Bank Secrecy Act ,
Banking Sector ,
Beneficial Owner ,
CFIUS ,
Customer Identification Program (CIP) ,
Financial Institutions ,
FinCEN ,
Policies and Procedures ,
Proposed Rules ,
Regulatory Requirements ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC)
The Proposed Rule Aims To Increase Transparency in CVC Mixing -
On October 19, 2023, the U.S. Department of the Treasury’s Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN) released a notice of proposed rulemaking (Proposal)...more
Through a series of coordinated actions in May 2023, the United States launched a whole-of-government effort to expand and strengthen enforcement of its sanctions campaign against Russia as the conflict in Ukraine continues...more
6/6/2023
/ Anti-Money Laundering ,
Bureau of Industry and Security (BIS) ,
CFIUS ,
Economic Sanctions ,
Export Controls ,
Financial Institutions ,
FinCEN ,
International Trade ,
National Security ,
Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) ,
Russia
DOJ Increases Resources To Investigate and Prosecute Sanctions Evasion and Export Control Violations -
On March 2, 2023, during a keynote speech at the American Bar Association’s annual White Collar Crime National...more
3/17/2023
/ Anti-Corruption ,
Bureau of Industry and Security (BIS) ,
Compliance ,
Corporate Entities ,
Criminal Prosecution ,
Department of Justice (DOJ) ,
Economic Sanctions ,
EU ,
Export Controls ,
Exports ,
Financial Institutions ,
Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA) ,
International Trade ,
Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) ,
Russia ,
Self-Disclosure Requirements ,
U.S. Commerce Department ,
U.S. Treasury ,
UK ,
Voluntary Disclosure
In the past year, the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System (the Board) Biden administration officials, and other U.S. banking regulators have repeatedly voiced growing concerns about certain cryptoasset...more
2/7/2023
/ Banking Regulators ,
Banking Sector ,
Banks ,
Biden Administration ,
Blockchain ,
Cryptoassets ,
Cryptocurrency ,
FDIC ,
Federal Reserve ,
Financial Institutions ,
Financial Services Industry ,
OCC ,
Risk Assessment
On September 29, 2022, the U.S. Treasury Department’s Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN) issued a long-awaited final rule implementing the beneficial ownership information (BOI) reporting requirements of the...more
Since the publication of our March 24, 2022, and March 17, 2022, client alerts, the U.S., U.K. and European Union, among other allied nations, have imposed additional sanctions and export controls on key elements of the...more
5/2/2022
/ Blocking Sanctions ,
Economic Sanctions ,
EU ,
European Commission ,
Export Controls ,
Exports ,
Financial Institutions ,
Foreign Policy ,
Foreign Relations ,
General Licenses ,
Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) ,
Popular ,
Russia ,
UK
On March 11, 2022, President Joe Biden signed Executive Order 14068 (E.O. 14068) imposing new restrictions on imports and exports with respect to Russia as well as on the supply of U.S. dollar-denominated banknotes to the...more
3/22/2022
/ Bank Notes ,
Banks ,
Biden Administration ,
Economic Sanctions ,
Executive Orders ,
Export Controls ,
Exports ,
Financial Institutions ,
Luxury Goods ,
Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) ,
Russia ,
Ukraine
Since the publication of our February 26, 2022, client alert, the United States, United Kingdom and the European Union, among other allied nations, have imposed additional sanctions and export controls on key elements of the...more
3/10/2022
/ Belarus ,
Blocking Sanctions ,
Bureau of Industry and Security (BIS) ,
Economic Sanctions ,
Export Controls ,
Financial Institutions ,
Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) ,
Popular ,
Russia ,
SWIFT ,
Ukraine
The United States, United Kingdom and the European Union, among other allies, have moved swiftly in response to the Russian Federation’s invasion of Ukraine. Merely hours after Russia’s announcement on February 21, 2022, that...more
On December 7, 2021, the Department of the Treasury's Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN) issued a highly anticipated notice of proposed rulemaking (the Proposed Rule) to implement the beneficial ownership reporting...more
The President’s Working Group on Financial Markets (PWG), together with the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) and the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC), released a much-anticipated Report on...more
11/17/2021
/ AML/CFT ,
Bank Holding Company Act ,
Banking Regulators ,
Biden Administration ,
CFTC ,
Cryptocurrency ,
Decentralized Finance (DeFi) ,
Digital Assets ,
FDIC ,
Financial Institutions ,
FinCEN ,
FinTech ,
OCC ,
Stablecoins ,
Virtual Currency ,
Working Groups
On October 28, 2021, the Financial Action Task Force (FATF), the international body that sets standards for anti-money laundering and countering the financing of terrorism (AML/CFT), released updated guidance addressing the...more
11/12/2021
/ AML/CFT ,
Central Bank Digital Currency (CBDCs) ,
Cryptocurrency ,
Decentralized Finance (DeFi) ,
Digital Assets ,
Digital Currency ,
FATF ,
Financial Institutions ,
FinTech ,
Guidance Update ,
Non-Fungible Tokens (NFTs) ,
Peer-to-Peer ,
Stablecoins ,
Virtual Currency
On June 30, 2021, the U.S. Department of the Treasury’s Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN) issued its first government-wide priorities (Priorities) for combatting money laundering and the financing of terrorism.1...more
7/22/2021
/ AML/CFT ,
Anti-Money Laundering ,
Bank Secrecy Act ,
Banking Sector ,
Financial Institutions ,
FinCEN ,
Human Trafficking ,
Internal Controls ,
National Security ,
Terrorist Financing ,
Terrorist Financing Regulations
The existing financial regulatory regime limits the inroads fintech companies can make in banking. That could change with decentralized finance and cryptocurrencies. ...more
On June 3, 2021, President Joe Biden issued Executive Order 14032 (EO 14032) amending and, in effect, recasting Executive Order 13959 of November 12, 2020 (EO 13959), which restricted U.S. persons from purchasing and selling...more
Sanctions -
The Biden administration has made clear that economic sanctions will continue to be an important U.S. foreign policy tool and has initiated a comprehensive review of current sanctions policies and practices....more
On April 1, 2021, the Department of the Treasury’s Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN) issued an advance notice of proposed rulemaking (ANPRM) to solicit public comments on the implementation of the Corporate...more
On January 1, 2021, the United States Congress overrode the president’s veto to enact the 2021 National Defense Authorization Act (the NDAA), which, aside from allocating the annual defense budget, includes the Anti-Money...more
On October 27, 2020, the U.S. Department of the Treasury’s Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN) and the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System (Federal Reserve, together with FinCEN, “the Agencies”)...more
11/11/2020
/ Bank Secrecy Act ,
FATF ,
Federal Reserve ,
Financial Institutions ,
FinCEN ,
Fund Transfers ,
Know Your Customers ,
Money Services Business ,
Money Transmitter ,
National Security ,
Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (NOPR) ,
Public Comment ,
Recordkeeping Requirements ,
Travel Rule ,
Virtual Currency
On November 5, 2018, the United States reimposed all remaining nuclear-related sanctions against Iran that it had previously lifted in connection with its implementation of the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) in...more
11/13/2018
/ Cross-Border Transactions ,
Economic Sanctions ,
Executive Orders ,
Financial Institutions ,
Iran ,
Iran Sanctions ,
ITSR ,
Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) ,
Nuclear Power ,
Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) ,
Oil & Gas ,
SDN List ,
Secondary Sanctions ,
Trump Administration ,
Winding Down ,
Withdrawal
Effective May 11, 2018, covered financial institutions are required to comply with the customer due diligence rule (the Rule) that the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN) finalized in May 2016. The Rule mandates the...more
5/16/2018
/ Banks ,
Beneficial Owner ,
Compliance ,
Covered Financial Institutions ,
Customer Due Diligence (CDD) ,
Customer Identification Program (CIP) ,
Financial Institutions ,
FinCEN ,
Legal Entities ,
Loans ,
Suspicious Activity Reports (SARs) ,
Trusts ,
Verification Requirements
On May 1, 2018, the U.S. Department of the Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) issued General Licenses 12B and 13A authorizing additional transactions and activities involving certain persons subject to the...more