News & Analysis as of

Money Transmitter Financial Institutions Bank Secrecy Act

Wilson Sonsini Goodrich & Rosati

Pending Changes to Anti-Money Laundering Program Requirements for MSBs and Other Financial Institutions

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

Ballard Spahr LLP

PA Department of Banking and Securities: Virtual Currency is “Money”

Ballard Spahr LLP on

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

Goodwin

Navigating the Hazy Landscape: Challenges and Solutions in Cannabis Payment Processing

Goodwin on

The sale of adult-use cannabis has been legalized in 24 states in the United States. But this does not mean there are no other legal impediments to the cannabis industry in those jurisdictions. For example, cannabis...more

Ballard Spahr LLP

Criminal Case Round-Up: Recent Prosecutions Involving Financial Institution Officers

Ballard Spahr LLP on

The Department of Justice (“DOJ”) has been very active in the Bank Secrecy Act (“BSA”) / Anti-Money Laundering (“AML”) space, as reflected by a recent series of individual prosecutions and corporate non-prosecution agreements...more

King & Spalding

Cryptocurrency Exchange Binance and its Founder Plead Guilty to Money Laundering Charges

King & Spalding on

AML Developments - What You Need to Know - On November 21, 2023, the U.S. Justice Department unsealed charges against cryptocurrency exchange Binance and Binance CEO Changpeng Zhao for violating anti-money laundering...more

Venable LLP

Treasury Doubles Up Enforcement Efforts Against Noncompliant Crypto Platforms

Venable LLP on

​​​​​​​The U.S. Treasury Department’s Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN) and Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) announced yesterday that they had reached settlements for over $24 million and $29 million,...more

Ballard Spahr LLP

AML Compliance “Expert” Pleads Guilty to Failure to Maintain Effective AML Program for Over $1 Billion in High-Risk Transactions

Ballard Spahr LLP on

On September 13, the United States Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of New York announced that defendant Hanan Ofer pleaded guilty to “failing to maintain an effective anti-money laundering program.” Ofer and his...more

BakerHostetler

Applying the Bank Secrecy Act, FinCEN Regulations, and Sanctions to the Nascent NFT Market

BakerHostetler on

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

Oberheiden P.C.

NFT Lawyer – 5 Things You Must Consider Before Hiring

Oberheiden P.C. on

NFTs, or non-fungible tokens, are digital assets that are sharply rising in popularity. Every day, individuals are launching new NFT projects with similar or new features compared to prior NFT projects. NFTs are attractive to...more

McGlinchey Stafford

Scared Of Your Clients’ Involvement With Cryptocurrency?

McGlinchey Stafford on

Cryptocurrency, and its most-noted asset Bitcoin, has been breaking into the mainstream press. While most lawyers have heard terms like “blockchain” and probably even know a few people who have been deeply interested in the...more

Foodman CPAs & Advisors

¿Estarán las Instituciones Financieras Preparadas para la Propuesta de Reglamentación del “Travel Rule”?

El “Travel Rule” es una regla de la Ley de Secreto Bancario (“BSA”) regla [31 CFR 103.33(g)] y requiere que todas las instituciones financieras transmitan cierta información a la siguiente institución financiera, en ciertas...more

Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom LLP

FinCEN and Federal Reserve Propose To Significantly Lower Threshold for International Funds Transfers Under Recordkeeping and...

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

Goodwin

Federal Reserve Proposes Rules To Modernize Regulations That Implement CRA

Goodwin on

In the News. The Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System (Federal Reserve) proposed rules to modernize the regulations that implement the Community Reinvestment Act (CRA); the Conference of State Bank Supervisors...more

Ballard Spahr LLP

Guilty Pleas Highlight Illicit Funneling of Chinese Cash to Casinos

Ballard Spahr LLP on

Government Suggests that Unusual Pleas are Just the Tip of an Iceberg - Chinese law generally prohibits its citizens from converting more than $50,000 in Chinese yuan into foreign currency in a year.  On Monday, two men...more

Orrick - On the Chain

Wyoming, the “Equality State,” Seeks to Level the Playing Field for Digital Assets Businesses

Orrick - On the Chain on

In its continued effort to establish itself as the go-to jurisdiction for digital asset businesses, Wyoming, through its Department of Audit, Division of Banking, recently published a digital asset custody regime for its...more

Ballard Spahr LLP

FinCEN Deputy Director Stresses Technological Innovation, Virtual Currency Enforcement and the U.S. Culture of Compliance

Ballard Spahr LLP on

Last Wednesday, FinCEN Deputy Director Jamal El-Hindi appeared at the annual conference of the Money Transmitter Regulators Association and delivered prepared remarks. The topics of his address covered three issues of...more

Katten Muchin Rosenman LLP

FinCEN Publishes Guidance Pertaining to Certain Business Models Involving Convertible Virtual Currencies

On May 9, the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network of the US Department of the Treasury (FinCEN) issued guidance relating to how its regulations apply to certain businesses that transact in "convertible virtual currencies"...more

Dechert LLP

Financial Services Quarterly Report - First Quarter 2019: A U.S. Regulatory Patchwork Quilt: Cryptocurrency and Money Transmitter...

Dechert LLP on

According to its original design, Bitcoin was intended to reduce market participants’ need to rely on “financial institutions serving as trusted third parties to process electronic payments.”1 While Bitcoin and other...more

Ward and Smith, P.A.

Should You Bank a Virtual Currency Business?

Ward and Smith, P.A. on

Virtual currencies like Bitcoin and Ethereum have spawned many types of businesses that need banking services. Many banks "de-risk" -- do not provide banking services -- to these businesses. Many virtual currency...more

Blank Rome LLP

FinCEN Director’s Speech Underscores the Need for Virtual Currency Businesses to Comply with the Bank Secrecy Act

Blank Rome LLP on

Individuals and businesses that accept and transmit virtual currency must register with the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (“FinCEN”) as a money service business (“MSB”). Registrants must develop and maintain an...more

Wilson Sonsini Goodrich & Rosati

Anti-Money Laundering Obligations for Virtual Currency Companies

Virtual currency businesses are under scrutiny by U.S. anti-money laundering (AML) regulators. Earlier this year, U.S Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin emphasized that virtual currencies are subject to AML regulations. He...more

Perkins Coie

FinCEN Is Watching ICOs for BSA Violations

Perkins Coie on

In a recently published letter to the Senate Finance Committee, FinCEN confirmed that when an ICO token is a “convertible virtual currency,” administrators or exchangers of the token would be “money transmitters” under...more

Proskauer - Blockchain and the Law

U.S. Treasury to Review FinCEN’s Cryptocurrency Practices

In October, the U.S. Department of the Treasury (the “Treasury”) released its Annual Plan, outlining the Office of Inspector General’s audit and investigative priorities for fiscal year 2018. The Annual Plan notes that...more

Ballard Spahr LLP

NY DFS Finalizes Rigorous AML/BSA Regulation

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The New York Department of Financial Services (DFS) has finalized a new regulation setting forth rigorous standards for monitoring and filtering programs to monitor transactions for potential anti-money laundering (AML) and...more

Davis Wright Tremaine LLP

Operation Chokepoint and the Brave New World of Criminal Liability - November 2014

The U.S. Department of Justice and banking regulators have stepped up the pace of criminal, civil and administrative actions against banks, payment processors, money transmitters, and other financial institutions, for...more

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