Navigating New Compliance Challenges: The Impact of the Money Transmitter Modernization Act on Payroll Processing - Payments Pros – The Payments Law Podcast
Money services businesses (MSBs), a category which includes money transmitters (e.g., PayPal and other payment facilitators), as well as administrators and exchangers of convertible virtual currencies (e.g., Bitcoin...more
On April 20, 2024, the Pennsylvania Department of Banking and Securities (“DoBS”) issued a policy statement (“Policy Statement”) to “clarify” that the Department’s interpretation of the term “money” in the Pennsylvania Money...more
Decentralized Finance (DeFi) is an umbrella term used to describe financial services provided outside of the traditional markets, that rely on blockchain technologies to create innovative products instead of relying on...more
As the world now knows, Binance Holdings Limited, doing business as Binance.com (“Binance” or the “Company”), has entered into a plea agreement with the U.S. Department of Justice (“DOJ”)....more
Despite the excitement that surrounded original cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin, the dust eventually settled, revealing that only a few early investors got rich and many others lost their life savings. But it was not long...more
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
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
The Dec. 14, 2022, introduction of the Digital Asset Anti-Money Laundering Act by Sens. Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass., and Roger Marshall, R-Kan., marks the end of a tumultuous year in the cryptocurrency industry that saw a...more
On January 30, Senators Elizabeth Warren (D-MA), John Kennedy (R-LA), and Roger Marshall (R-KS) sent a follow-up letter to a California-based bank asking for additional responses to questions related to the bank’s...more
On December 14, Senators Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) and Roger Marshall (R-Kan.) introduced the Digital Asset Anti-Money Laundering Act of 2022 (the Act) that would extend anti-money laundering and countering of the financing...more
On October 11, 2022, the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN) and the Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) acted in parallel to issue the first joint action in the cryptocurrency market against Bittrex. Bittrex...more
Non-fungible tokens (NFTs) often involve two areas with known money laundering and terrorist financing risks: cryptocurrencies and high-value assets, like art. As detailed below, the U.S. Treasury Department’s Financial...more
On June 22, 2022, the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN) issued a Statement on Bank Secrecy Act Due Diligence for independent ATM owners and operators. The purpose of the statement is to “provide clarity to banks...more
The Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN) has issued an alert encouraging all financial institutions to be “vigilant” against efforts by their customers to evade recent sanctions and other restrictions imposed by the...more
Two recent guilty pleas involving a cryptocurrency exchange serve as a reminder to all money services businesses (“MSBs”)—including those ostensibly located outside the United States but that conduct business there—of the...more
The Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (“FinCEN”) of the U.S. Department of the Treasury (“Treasury”) has made clear that businesses engaging in certain activities involving virtual currencies are subject to registration,...more
Despite the confusing interpretations by US regulators, non-compliance with crypto tax rules can cost taxpayers dearly. Unfortunately, the answer to “how is virtual currency taxed” depends on who you ask....more
The incoming Biden team will need to quickly address significant digital asset issues, including a major enforcement action and a significant proposed FinCEN rule initiated in the final days of the outgoing administration. ...more
A new proposal would subject financial institutions and exchanges to onerous recordkeeping and reporting requirements for certain digital currency transactions. In a surprise release in the waning days of the Trump...more
A controversial proposed rule from the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network would bring bank-like regulation of virtual asset transactions, including the first broadly-applied AML reporting requirement in at least two...more
Just before the Christmas holidays, the Department of the Treasury’s Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN) issued proposed rulemaking entitled “Requirements for Certain Transactions Involving Convertible Virtual...more
On December 18, the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (“FinCEN”) issued a proposal to impose on banks and money service businesses (“affected institutions”) a new set of rules for digital currency transactions involving...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
Recent action by the U.S. government reminds us that engaging in the cryptocurrency markets continues to present counterparty risk in the context of with whom you are doing business. Whether a company is buying cryptocurrency...more