The U.S. Treasury Department’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (“OFAC”) sanctioned the popular decentralized virtual currency mixer Tornado Cash on August 8, 2022, continuing the U.S. government’s efforts to target...more
The Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (“FinCEN”) recently issued an advisory urging financial institutions (including certain cryptocurrency businesses) to implement controls to help detect proceeds of foreign public...more
4/27/2022
/ Bribery ,
BSA/AML ,
Cryptocurrency ,
Economic Sanctions ,
Embezzlement ,
Extortion ,
Financial Institutions ,
FinCEN ,
Foreign Official ,
Misappropriation ,
Money Laundering ,
New Guidance ,
Offshore Funds ,
Public Corruption ,
Ransomware ,
Russia ,
Shell Corporations ,
Suspicious Activities ,
Suspicious Activity Reports (SARs)
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
3/4/2022
/ Anti-Money Laundering ,
Bank Secrecy Act ,
BitMEX ,
Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) ,
Cryptocurrency ,
Department of Justice (DOJ) ,
FinCEN ,
Guilty Pleas ,
Know Your Customers ,
Money Services Business ,
Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC)
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 innovative use of virtual currencies is hotter than ever, but so is a dark side of these instruments: their exploitation in ransomware schemes. This year, since January 2021, ransomware attacks have increased...more
12/30/2021
/ Cryptocurrency ,
Cyber Attacks ,
Cybersecurity ,
Data Breach ,
Financial Institutions ,
Financial Regulatory Reform ,
FinCEN ,
Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) ,
Popular ,
Ransomware ,
Risk Management ,
Virtual Currency
On September 21, 2021, the U.S. Department of the Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (“OFAC”) announced several actions focused on disrupting criminal digital finance infrastructure, including virtual currency...more
10/13/2021
/ Cryptocurrency ,
Cyber Attacks ,
Cybersecurity ,
Department of Justice (DOJ) ,
Digital Currency ,
Enforcement Actions ,
International Emergency Economic Powers Act (IEEPA) ,
Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) ,
Popular ,
Ransomware ,
Risk Mitigation ,
Sanctions ,
SDN List ,
Virtual Currency
The Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN) and the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) reached one of the largest-ever resolutions with a cryptocurrency exchange on August 10, 2021. BitMEX is virtual currency...more
8/20/2021
/ Anti-Money Laundering ,
Bank Secrecy Act ,
BitMEX ,
CFTC ,
Cryptocurrency ,
Digital Assets ,
Enforcement Actions ,
Financial Institutions ,
FinCEN ,
FinTech ,
Popular ,
Suspicious Activity Reports (SARs) ,
Virtual Currency
The Department of Justice (DOJ) announced last week and earlier this month civil forfeiture actions brought by the United States Attorney’s Office for the District of Columbia to seize stolen or laundered virtual currency...more
9/2/2020
/ Corruption ,
Cryptocurrency ,
Department of Justice (DOJ) ,
Financial Crimes ,
Financial Transactions ,
Forfeiture ,
Hackers ,
Money Laundering ,
Money Services Business ,
North Korea ,
Popular ,
Terrorist Financing Regulations ,
Virtual Currency ,
White Collar Crimes
A recent federal criminal action shows the depth of the U.S. government’s concern about the use of cryptocurrency (or virtual currency) to violate economic sanctions laws and the lengths to which it will go to charge such...more
1/24/2020
/ Anti-Money Laundering ,
Bitcoin Mining ,
BSA/AML ,
CFTC ,
Corruption ,
Cryptocurrency ,
Currency Exchange ,
Digital Currency ,
Economic Sanctions ,
Financial Transactions ,
FinCEN ,
Geo-Blocking ,
Jurisdiction ,
Money Laundering ,
Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) ,
Popular ,
Regulatory Oversight ,
Risk Management ,
Sanction Violations ,
SDN List ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) ,
Strict Compliance ,
Strict Liability ,
Virtual Currency