FinCEN has announced the expansion of its Geographical Targeting Orders (GTOs) for high-end cash buyers of real estate. The expansion is two-fold. First, FinCEN has expanded the scope of Form 8300 reportable transactions to...more
8/24/2017
/ Beneficial Owner ,
BSA/AML ,
FATF ,
Financial Institutions ,
FinCEN ,
GTO ,
Money Laundering ,
Real Estate Investments ,
Reporting Requirements ,
Suspicious Activity Reports (SARs) ,
Title Insurance
Part III of the Analysis of the Combatting Money Laundering, Terrorist Financing, and Counterfeiting Act of 2017 -
As we recently blogged, Senators Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa) and Diane Feinstein (D-California) introduced on...more
Senators Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa) and Diane Feinstein (D-California) introduced on May 25, 2017 a bill, S. 1241, entitled the “Combatting Money Laundering, Terrorist Financing, and Counterfeiting Act of 2017.” Although it is...more
The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission's Office of Compliance Inspections and Examinations (OCIE) has issued a Risk Alert in the wake of the widespread WannaCry ransomware attack that has inflicted hundreds of thousands...more
5/19/2017
/ Broker-Dealer ,
Cyber Attacks ,
Cybersecurity ,
Data Breach ,
Hackers ,
Investment Management ,
Malware ,
OCIE ,
Phishing Scams ,
Ransomware ,
Risk Alert ,
Risk Management ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC)
Today we are very pleased to welcome guest blogger Greg Baer, who will address a series of significant issues posed by a detailed paper published by The Clearing House, a banking association and payments company that is owned...more
5/9/2017
/ ACH Payments ,
AML/CFT ,
AUSA ,
Banking Sector ,
BSA/AML ,
Financial Institutions ,
FinCEN ,
Money Laundering ,
Patriot Act ,
Regulatory Standards ,
Risk Management ,
Suspicious Activity Reports (SARs) ,
Terrorism Funding
The CFPB has proposed to delay the effective date of the final rule governing Prepaid Accounts from October 1, 2017 to April 1, 2018. The CFPB’s action is a direct response to ongoing dialogue between companies in the prepaid...more
FinCEN announced today that it is renewing the existing Geographical Targeting Orders (GTOs) issued in July 2016 that require all title insurance companies to identify and report on the natural persons behind shell companies...more
2/23/2017
/ Anti-Money Laundering ,
Banking Sector ,
Beneficial Owner ,
BSA/AML ,
Cash Transactions ,
FATF ,
Financial Institutions ,
FinCEN ,
Geographic Targeting Order ,
Insurance Industry ,
Money Laundering ,
Real Estate Investments ,
Real Estate Market ,
Reporting Requirements ,
Shell Corporations ,
Title Insurance
The Conference of State Bank Supervisors (CSBS) has continued its efforts to promote improvements in Bank Secrecy Act/Anti-Money Laundering compliance with the release in January 2017 of a new BSA/AML Self-Assessment Tool for...more
The Joint Committee of the European Supervisory Authorities (ESA) issued on February 10, 2017 draft rules regarding certain anti-money laundering (AML) and counter-terrorism steps for Member States of the European Union (EU)....more
2/13/2017
/ AML/CFT ,
Anti-Money Laundering ,
BSA/AML ,
Cross-Border Transactions ,
EU ,
European Supervisory Authorities (ESAs) ,
Financial Institutions ,
Member State ,
Money Laundering ,
Money Transmitter ,
Payment Systems ,
Proposed Rules ,
Regulatory Oversight ,
Terrorism Funding ,
Terrorist Financing Regulations
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 New York Department of Financial Services (NYDFS) announced today a revised regulation that will require all institutions subject to NYDFS supervision to establish and maintain a cybersecurity program meeting "certain...more
12/29/2016
/ Banking Sector ,
Banks ,
Chief Information Security Officer (CISO) ,
Comment Period ,
Cybersecurity ,
Cybersecurity Framework ,
Data Protection ,
Financial Institutions ,
Financial Services Industry ,
Insurance Industry ,
NYDFS ,
Risk Management ,
Third-Party Service Provider
Three federal banking agencies have announced plans to develop new rules that would establish cyber risk management and resiliency standards for large interconnected entities under the agencies' supervision, as well as those...more
10/21/2016
/ Advanced Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (ANPRM) ,
Cyber Attacks ,
Cybersecurity ,
FDIC ,
Federal Reserve ,
FFIEC ,
Financial Institutions ,
Financial Services Industry ,
Hackers ,
Handbooks ,
Incident Response Plans ,
OCC ,
Risk Management
The CFPB has issued its long-anticipated final rule for general purpose prepaid accounts. As expected, the new regulations expand the products covered by Regulation E, introduce significant new disclosure requirements,...more
10/7/2016
/ Consumer Financial Products ,
Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) ,
Disclosure Requirements ,
Final Rules ,
Financial Institutions ,
Financial Services Industry ,
Overdraft Fees ,
p2p ,
Prepaid Payment Products ,
Regulation E ,
Regulation Z
The New York Department of Financial Services (NYDFS) will require all institutions subject to NYDFS supervision to establish and maintain a cybersecurity program meeting "certain regulatory minimum standards." All financial...more
9/20/2016
/ Banking Sector ,
Chief Information Security Officer (CISO) ,
Consumer Lenders ,
Cybersecurity ,
Financial Institutions ,
Financial Services Industry ,
Information Technology ,
Mortgages ,
NYDFS ,
Popular ,
Risk Management
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
Perhaps overshadowed in the raging battle over the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau's proposal to ban the use of class action waivers in consumer arbitration agreements involving consumer financial products or services is...more
8/10/2016
/ Arbitration ,
Arbitration Agreements ,
Clickwrap Agreements ,
Corporate Counsel ,
Mobile Apps ,
Motion to Compel ,
Privacy Policy ,
Registration ,
Sharing Economy ,
Terms of Service ,
Uber
FinCEN has announced a major expansion and extension of its geographic targeting orders (GTOs) aimed at high-end cash buyers of real estate. This action reflects FinCEN’s continued efforts to prevent money laundering through...more
8/5/2016
/ Banking Sector ,
Beneficial Owner ,
Cash Transactions ,
Covered Transactions ,
FinCEN ,
Geographic Targeting Order ,
Insurance Industry ,
Money Laundering ,
Real Estate Investments ,
Real Estate Market ,
Reporting Requirements ,
Title Insurance
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 Financial Crimes Enforcement Network's (FinCEN) continuing efforts to address the "real estate industry's vulnerability to money laundering” were outlined by FinCEN Director Jennifer Shasky Calvery in an April 12, 2016,...more
The U.S. Treasury Department has released a white paper addressing the online marketplace lending industry. Based in part on the responses to Treasury's July 2015 Request for Information (RFI), the white paper offers a broad...more
5/16/2016
/ Community Development Entities ,
Consumer Lenders ,
Financial Institutions ,
Financial Services Industry ,
Loans ,
Online Marketplace Lending ,
Peer-to-Peer ,
Request For Information ,
Small Business ,
Transparency ,
U.S. Treasury
As part of the U.S. Treasury Department's ongoing efforts to prevent bad actors from using U.S. companies to conceal money laundering, tax evasion, and other illicit financial activities, the Financial Crimes Enforcement...more
5/11/2016
/ Bad Actors ,
Bank Holding Company Act ,
Beneficial Owner ,
Covered Financial Institutions ,
Due Diligence ,
Financial Institutions ,
FinCEN ,
IRS ,
Limited Liability Company (LLC) ,
Panama Papers ,
Reporting Requirements ,
Tax Evasion
The federal body tasked with creating standards for the uniform regulation of financial institutions has released new information to assist examiners in evaluating mobile services offered by financial institutions and their...more
Following years of delay, the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) is requesting comment on more than 120 questions regarding the proposed web accessibility rule under Title II of the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA). Though...more