The Bank Policy Institute (“BPI”) has issued its comment on the Federal Functional Regulators’ (the OCC, the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System, the FDIC, and the National Credit Union Administration) notice of...more
10/18/2024
/ AML/CFT ,
Anti-Money Laundering ,
Bank Secrecy Act ,
BSA/AML ,
Financial Crimes ,
Financial Institutions ,
Financial Services Industry ,
Financial Transactions ,
FinCEN ,
Money Laundering ,
NPRM ,
Terrorist Financing Regulations
This episode features a discussion with Nick St. John, Director of Federal Compliance at America’s Credit Unions. We discuss the Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (NPRM) issued by FinCEN and federal banking regulators regarding...more
On August 1, 2024, the Department of Justice launched its Corporate Whistleblower Awards Pilot Program (the “Pilot Program”). Under this 3-year initiative managed by DOJ’s Criminal Division, a whistleblower may be eligible...more
8/12/2024
/ AML/CFT ,
Anti-Money Laundering ,
Bank Secrecy Act ,
BSA/AML ,
Department of Justice (DOJ) ,
Financial Institutions ,
Financial Services Industry ,
Money Laundering ,
Pilot Programs ,
Terrorist Financing Regulations ,
Whistleblower Awards ,
Whistleblower Protection Policies ,
Whistleblowers
As we previously blogged, a Florida law (Fla. Stat. § 655.0323, entitled “Unsafe and unsound practices”) which became effective July 1, 2024 prohibits federal and state depository institutions conducting business in the state...more
7/30/2024
/ AML/CFT ,
Anti-Money Laundering ,
Bank Secrecy Act ,
Banks ,
Financial Institutions ,
Financial Regulatory Reform ,
Financial Services Industry ,
Florida ,
Money Laundering ,
Preemption ,
Religious Beliefs ,
Religious Discrimination ,
Suspicious Activity Reports (SARs) ,
U.S. Treasury ,
Unfair or Deceptive Trade Practices
FinCEN’s recent preliminary rulemaking aims to enhance and modernize regulations with requirements and priorities that affect a broad range of “financial institutions” across industries—but lacks concrete guidance on...more
7/26/2024
/ AML/CFT ,
Anti-Money Laundering ,
Bank Secrecy Act ,
Chevron Deference ,
Financial Crimes ,
Financial Institutions ,
Financial Regulatory Reform ,
FinCEN ,
Money Laundering ,
Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (NOPR) ,
Popular ,
Regulatory Agenda ,
Risk Assessment ,
Terrorist Financing Regulations
On July 3, the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN) published a notice of proposed rulemaking (NPRM) as part of a broader initiative to “strengthen, modernize, and improve” financial institutions’ anti-money...more
7/16/2024
/ AML/CFT ,
Anti-Money Laundering ,
Bank Secrecy Act ,
Banks ,
Broker-Dealer ,
BSA/AML ,
Financial Crimes ,
Financial Institutions ,
Financial Services Industry ,
FinCEN ,
Money Laundering ,
Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (NOPR) ,
NPRM ,
Popular ,
Reporting Requirements ,
Risk Assessment ,
Suspicious Activity Reports (SARs) ,
Terrorist Financing Regulations
After several years of monitoring and reporting on artificial intelligence (AI) in financial services, the U.S. Department of Treasury (Treasury) has embarked on initial rulemaking efforts and issued a request for information...more
6/27/2024
/ AML/CFT ,
Anti-Money Laundering ,
Artificial Intelligence ,
BSA/AML ,
Consumer Financial Products ,
Financial Institutions ,
Financial Services Industry ,
Machine Learning ,
Non-Discrimination Rules ,
Request For Information ,
Risk Management ,
U.S. Treasury ,
UDAAP
The U.S. Department of the Treasury (“Treasury”) has released a Request for Information on the Uses, Opportunities, and Risks of Artificial Intelligence (“AI”) in the Financial Services Sector (“RFI”). Written comments are...more
6/17/2024
/ Algorithms ,
AML/CFT ,
Anti-Money Laundering ,
Artificial Intelligence ,
Bank Secrecy Act ,
BSA/AML ,
Consumer Financial Products ,
Data Privacy ,
Disclosure Requirements ,
Financial Crimes ,
Financial Institutions ,
Financial Services Industry ,
FinCEN ,
Gramm-Leach-Blilely Act ,
Investor Protection ,
Machine Learning ,
Money Laundering ,
Request For Information ,
Risk Management ,
U.S. Treasury
Strategy Touts Regulations on Beneficial Ownership, Real Estate and Investment Advisers, but Bemoans Lack of Supervisory Resources for Non-Bank Financial Institutions...more
5/21/2024
/ AML/CFT ,
Anti-Money Laundering ,
Bank Secrecy Act ,
Digital Assets ,
Financial Institutions ,
Financial Services Industry ,
FinCEN ,
Investment Adviser ,
Non-Bank Lenders ,
Proposed Rules ,
Risk Assessment ,
Terrorist Financing Regulations ,
U.S. Treasury
On May 3, 2024, the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System (the “Federal Reserve”), the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (“FDIC”), and the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (“OCC”) jointly released the...more
5/8/2024
/ AML/CFT ,
Anti-Money Laundering ,
Banks ,
BSA/AML ,
Due Diligence ,
FDIC ,
Federal Reserve ,
Financial Institutions ,
Financial Services Industry ,
FinTech ,
OCC ,
Risk Assessment ,
Risk Management ,
Third-Party ,
Third-Party Risk
On February 16, the Financial Crimes Enforcement Center (“FinCEN”) published a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (“NPRM”) regarding residential real estate. The final version of the NPRM published in the Federal Register is 47...more
2/23/2024
/ AML/CFT ,
Anti-Money Laundering ,
Bank Secrecy Act ,
Beneficial Owner ,
Broker-Dealer ,
BSA/AML ,
Corporate Transparency Act ,
Financial Crimes ,
Financial Institutions ,
FinCEN ,
Money Laundering ,
Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (NOPR) ,
NPRM ,
Real Estate Investments ,
Real Estate Transactions ,
Recordkeeping Requirements ,
Reporting Requirements ,
Suspicious Activity Reports (SARs)
Today we are very pleased to welcome, once again, guest blogger Dr. Kateryna Boguslavska of the Basel Institute on Governance (“Basel Institute”), who will discuss the Basel Institute’s release of the 12th annual Public...more
1/22/2024
/ AML/CFT ,
Anti-Money Laundering ,
BSA/AML ,
Corruption ,
Cryptocurrency ,
FATF ,
Financial Crimes ,
Financial Institutions ,
Financial Transactions ,
INTERPOL ,
Money Laundering ,
Popular ,
Terrorist Financing Regulations
FinCEN announced on October 20 that, once again, it is extending the Geographic Targeting Order, or GTO, which requires U.S. title insurance companies to identify the natural persons behind so-called “shell companies” used in...more
10/24/2023
/ AML/CFT ,
Anti-Money Laundering ,
Covered Transactions ,
Financial Institutions ,
Financial Services Industry ,
FinCEN ,
Geographic Targeting Order ,
GTO ,
Insurance Industry ,
Money Laundering ,
Mortgages ,
Real Estate Investments ,
Shell Corporations ,
Suspicious Activity Reports (SARs)
The new Director of FinCEN, Andrea Gacki, addressed several key topics on October 3, 2023 at the Association of Certified Anti-Money Laundering Specialists (“ACAMS”) conference in Las Vegas, Nevada. Specifically, Director...more
10/9/2023
/ Advanced Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (ANPRM) ,
AML/CFT ,
Anti-Money Laundering ,
Bank Secrecy Act ,
Beneficial Owner ,
Broker-Dealer ,
BSA/AML ,
Corporate Transparency Act ,
Department of Justice (DOJ) ,
Financial Crimes ,
Financial Institutions ,
Financial Transactions ,
FinCEN ,
Investment Adviser ,
Money Laundering ,
Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (NOPR) ,
Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) ,
Recordkeeping Requirements ,
Reporting Requirements ,
Suspicious Activity Reports (SARs) ,
Whistleblowers
On July 28th, Senators Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass), Roger Marshall (R-Kan.), Joe Manchin (D-W.Va.) and Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.), reintroduced the Digital Asset Anti-Money Laundering Act (the “Act”), legislation aimed at closing...more
8/14/2023
/ AML/CFT ,
Anti-Money Laundering ,
Bank Secrecy Act ,
BSA/AML ,
CFTC ,
Corporate Transparency Act ,
Digital Assets ,
FBAR ,
Financial Crimes ,
Financial Institutions ,
Financial Regulatory Reform ,
FinCEN ,
Money Laundering ,
Money Services Business ,
NDAA ,
Proposed Legislation ,
Regulatory Agenda ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC)
Legislation Targets Unhosted Wallets, Validators and Digital Asset ATMs -
On July 28th, Senators Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass), Roger Marshall (R-Kan.), Joe Manchin (D-W.Va.) and Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.), reintroduced the...more
8/11/2023
/ AML/CFT ,
Anti-Money Laundering ,
Bank Secrecy Act ,
Banks ,
BSA/AML ,
Corporate Transparency Act ,
Cryptoassets ,
Cryptocurrency ,
Cyber Crimes ,
Digital Assets ,
Digital Wallets ,
Financial Institutions ,
FinCEN ,
Money Laundering ,
Money Services Business ,
Proposed Legislation ,
Regulatory Agenda ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC)
Report Offers Weak Insight on Causation but Lists Steps that Treasury Can and Should Take -
The Department of Treasury (“DOT”) recently released its first ever strategy report (the “Strategy”) on the topic of de-risking,...more
On April 6, 2023, the U.S. Department of the Treasury released a report examining vulnerabilities in decentralized finance (“DeFi”), including potential gaps in the United States’ anti-money laundering (“AML”) and countering...more
Today we are very pleased to welcome, once again, guest blogger Dr. Kateryna Boguslavska of the Basel Institute on Governance (“Basel Institute”), who will discuss the Basel Institute’s recent release of the Basel AML Index...more
Report Previews Potential Implications for the United States -
The European Commission (“Commission”) recently released its 2022 Supranational Risk Assessment Report (“SNRA Report”) to the European Parliament and Counsel...more
On December 14, the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (“FinCEN”) issued a request for information (“RFI”), seeking comment on ways to “streamline, modernize, and update” the anti-money laundering (“AML”) and...more
In late October, the Financial Action Task Force issued its long-awaited updated guidance on Virtual Assets and Virtual Asset Service Providers (“FATF Guidance”), an extremely lengthy and detailed document setting forth how...more
The Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (“FinCEN”) has been busy during the last few weeks – and presumably will remain busy for the rest of 2021, as it attempts to satisfy numerous mandates imposed by the Anti-Money...more
As required by the Anti-Money Laundering Act (“AML Act”), the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (“FinCEN”) issued on June 30, 2021 its 14-page assessment regarding the feasibility of FinCEN issuing so-called “no-action”...more
Breadth of List Undermines Usefulness to Industry -
As required by the Anti-Money Laundering Act (“AML Act”), the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (“FinCEN”) issued on June 30, 2021 the first government-wide list of...more