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
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 March 28, 2024, the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN), in consultation with the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency, the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation, the National Credit Union Administration,...more
Following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (“FinCEN”) and the U.S. Department of Commerce’s Bureau of Industry and Security (“BIS”) issued a joint alert and a supplemental alert (the...more
9/18/2023
/ Anti-Money Laundering ,
Bureau of Industry and Security (BIS) ,
Economic Sanctions ,
Export Administration Regulations (EAR) ,
Export Controls ,
Financial Crimes ,
Financial Institutions ,
FinCEN ,
Foreign Policy ,
Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) ,
Popular ,
Russia ,
Suspicious Activity Reports (SARs)
Summary -
On September 30, 2022, the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN), a unit of the U.S. Department of Treasury, issued its final rule, Beneficial Ownership Information Reporting Requirements (Final Rule),...more
First Post in a Two-Post Series on the CTA Implementing Regulations -
On September 30, 2022, the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (“FinCEN”) issued its final rule, Beneficial Ownership Information Reporting...more
As we initially blogged, the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (“FinCEN”) issued on December 7 a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (“NPRM”) regarding the beneficial ownership (“BO”) reporting requirements of the Corporate...more
The Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (“FinCEN”) recently complied with two important deadlines under the Anti-Money Laundering Act (“AML Act”) — issuing national priorities for AML and countering the financing of...more
First Blog Post in an Extended Series on Legislative Changes to BSA/AML Regulatory Regime -
Change is upon us. The U.S. House and Senate have passed – over a Presidential veto – the National Defense Authorization Act...more
Regulators Provide Greater Transparency into BSA/AML Enforcement Process -
On August 13, 2020 the Federal Reserve System, Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation, National Credit Union Administration, and Office of the...more
8/24/2020
/ Anti-Money Laundering ,
Bank Secrecy Act ,
Banking Sector ,
BSA/AML ,
Cease and Desist Orders ,
Compliance ,
Criminal Investigations ,
Enforcement Actions ,
Financial Institutions ,
FinCEN ,
Internal Controls ,
Joint Statements
On December 3, 2019, four federal agencies – the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System, the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (“FDIC”), the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (“FinCEN”), and the Office of the...more
12/5/2019
/ Agribusiness ,
Anti-Corruption ,
Anti-Money Laundering ,
Bank Secrecy Act ,
Banks ,
BSA/AML ,
Cannabis Products ,
Consumer Financial Products ,
Controlled Substances ,
Controlled Substances Act ,
Debit and Credit Card Transactions ,
Decriminalization of Marijuana ,
Deregulation ,
Farm Bill ,
FDIC ,
Financial Regulatory Reform ,
Financial Services Industry ,
FinCEN ,
Hemp ,
Hemp Cultivation ,
Interstate Commerce ,
Marijuana ,
Marijuana Cultivation ,
Marijuana Related Businesses ,
New Guidance ,
OCC ,
Regulatory Oversight ,
Regulatory Requirements ,
Small Business Loans ,
Suspicious Activity Reports (SARs) ,
USDA
On November 12, 2019, FinCEN issued its latest Advisory on the Financial Action Task Force-Identified Jurisdictions with Anti-Money Laundering and Combatting the Financing of Terrorism Deficiencies and Relevant Actions by the...more
11/18/2019
/ Advisory Opinions ,
AML/CFT ,
Anti-Corruption ,
Anti-Money Laundering ,
Bahamas ,
BSA/AML ,
Cambodia ,
Cooperative Compliance Regime ,
Corrective Actions ,
Corruption ,
Countermeasures ,
Cross-Border Transactions ,
Due Diligence ,
Economic Sanctions ,
Failure to Comply ,
FATF ,
Federal Agency Taskforce ,
Financial Institutions ,
FinCEN ,
Foreign Banks ,
Foreign Jurisdictions ,
Ghana ,
Iran ,
Money Laundering ,
Mongolia ,
North Korea ,
Pakistan ,
Panama ,
Prohibited Transactions ,
Public Statements ,
Risk Management ,
Risk-Based Approaches ,
Suspicious Activities ,
Syria ,
Terrorist Financing Regulations ,
White Collar Crimes ,
WMD ,
Yemen ,
Zimbabwe
First Post in a Two-Part Series -
How do financial institutions get in trouble with their regulators? Recent AML enforcement actions suggest that the following two failures are at the heart of most of these actions: (1)...more
11/2/2018
/ Anti-Money Laundering ,
Filing Requirements ,
Financial Institutions ,
Information Sharing ,
Internal Controls ,
Policies and Procedures ,
Regulatory Requirements ,
Risk Management ,
Suspicious Activity Reports (SARs) ,
Tone At The Top ,
Transaction Monitoring
Congress enacted the safe harbor provision of the Bank Secrecy Act (BSA), codified at 31 U.S.C. §5318(g)(3)(A), to shield financial institutions, their officers and employees from civil liability for reporting known or...more
Last year, we posted FinCEN’s Beneficial Ownership Rule: A Practical Guide to Being Prepared for Implementation regarding the Customer Due Diligence Requirements for Financial Institutions Rule (the “Beneficial Ownership...more
On November 9, 2017, the Department of the Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (“OFAC”) amended the Cuban Assets Control Regulations, 31 C.F.R. part 515 (the “CACR”), with the stated intent of channeling economic...more
11/14/2017
/ Anti-Money Laundering ,
Bureau of Industry and Security (BIS) ,
Cuba ,
Cuban Assets Control Regulations (CACR) ,
Economic Sanctions ,
Financial Transactions ,
International Travel ,
Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) ,
Presidential Memorandum ,
Travel Restrictions ,
Trump Administration
In May 2016, Treasury’s Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN) issued its final rule on Customer Due Diligence (CDD) Requirements for Financial Institutions. ...more
In part two of our review of the 2016 developments in Anti-Money Laundering (AML), the Bank Secrecy Act (BSA), the criminal money laundering statutes, forfeiture, and related issues, we discuss four additional key...more
2/7/2017
/ Anti-Money Laundering ,
Bank Secrecy Act ,
Banking Sector ,
Banks ,
Bitcoin ,
BSA/AML ,
Civil Forfeiture ,
Currency Transaction Reports (CTR) ,
Digital Currency ,
Financial Institutions ,
Forfeiture ,
Money Laundering ,
Virtual Currency
2016 was a busy year for developments in Anti-Money Laundering (AML), the Bank Secrecy Act (BSA), the criminal money laundering statutes, forfeiture, and related issues. In part one of our year-in-review, we discuss six key...more
2/3/2017
/ Anti-Money Laundering ,
Bank Secrecy Act ,
Banking Sector ,
Banks ,
BSA/AML ,
Casinos ,
Consumer Lenders ,
Customer Due Diligence (CDD) ,
FATF ,
Financial Institutions ,
FinCEN ,
Fines ,
Gambling ,
Gaming ,
Geographic Targeting Order ,
Money Laundering ,
Mortgage Lenders ,
Mortgages ,
NYDFS ,
Offshore Funds ,
Panama Papers ,
Popular ,
Real Estate Market ,
Suspicious Activity Reports (SARs) ,
Tax Evasion
The U.S. Department of the Treasury and four U.S. federal banking regulators have issued the "Joint Fact Sheet on Foreign Correspondent Banking" in an effort to clarify enforcement priorities regarding Anti-Money Laundering...more
9/2/2016
/ AML/CFT ,
Anti-Money Laundering ,
Banking Sector ,
Banks ,
BSA/AML ,
Depository Institutions ,
Due Diligence ,
Foreign Correspondent Banking ,
Foreign Financial Institutions (FFI) ,
International Monetary Fund ,
U.S. Treasury
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
7/11/2016
/ Anti-Money Laundering ,
Bank Secrecy Act ,
Banking Sector ,
Banks ,
BSA/AML ,
Financial Institutions ,
Financial Regulatory Reform ,
Foreign Banks ,
Lenders ,
Money Laundering ,
Money Transmitter ,
Mortgages ,
New Regulations ,
NYDFS ,
Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) ,
Transaction Monitoring
The New York Department of Financial Services (DFS) has finalized a new regulation setting rigorous standards for monitoring and filtering programs to monitor transactions for potential anti-money laundering (AML) and Bank...more
7/6/2016
/ Anti-Money Laundering ,
Banking Sector ,
BSA/AML ,
Certificates of Compliance ,
Disclosure Requirements ,
Financial Institutions ,
Foreign Banks ,
Money Transmitter ,
NYDFS ,
Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) ,
Reporting Requirements ,
Senior Managers ,
Transaction Monitoring
The New York Department of Financial Services (DFS) has proposed new regulations setting forth minimum standards for anti-money laundering (AML) transaction monitoring and filtering systems. The regulations, proposed December...more
For the second time in two years, Benjamin Lawsky, the Superintendent of the New York State Department of Financial Services (DFS), has settled another matter with Standard Chartered Bank for alleged “anti-money laundering...more
The Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN) has issued formal guidance to clarify the anti-money laundering obligations of administrators and exchangers of convertible virtual currency.
“Virtual” currency, unlike...more