On August 29, the Financial Crimes Enforcement Center (“FinCEN”) published Anti-Money Laundering Regulations for Residential Real Estate Transfers (“Final Rule”) regarding residential real estate. The Federal Register...more
9/11/2024
/ Anti-Money Laundering ,
Bank Secrecy Act ,
Beneficial Owner ,
BSA/AML ,
Final Rules ,
Financial Crimes ,
Financial Institutions ,
Financial Services Industry ,
FinCEN ,
Money Laundering ,
Mortgage Lenders ,
Real Estate Transactions ,
Reporting Requirements ,
Risk Assessment ,
Suspicious Activity Reports (SARs)
The Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (“FinCEN”) has published a two-page reference guide (“Guide”) comparing the requirements for reporting beneficial ownership information (“BOI”) to FinCEN under the Corporate...more
8/5/2024
/ Anti-Money Laundering ,
Bank Secrecy Act ,
Beneficial Owner ,
BSA/AML ,
Corporate Transparency Act ,
Customer Due Diligence (CDD) ,
Financial Crimes ,
Financial Institutions ,
Financial Regulatory Reform ,
FinCEN ,
Money Laundering ,
Reporting Requirements ,
Suspicious Activity Reports (SARs)
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
Yesterday we were very pleased to welcome guest blogger, Don Fort, who is the Director of Investigations at Kostelanetz LLP, and the past Chief of the Internal Revenue Service’s Criminal Investigation (CI) Division....more
On July 3, the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN) published a notice of proposed rulemaking (NPRM) as part of a broader initiative to “strengthen, modernize, and improve” financial institutions’ anti-money...more
7/16/2024
/ AML/CFT ,
Anti-Money Laundering ,
Bank Secrecy Act ,
Banks ,
Broker-Dealer ,
BSA/AML ,
Financial Crimes ,
Financial Institutions ,
Financial Services Industry ,
FinCEN ,
Money Laundering ,
Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (NOPR) ,
NPRM ,
Popular ,
Reporting Requirements ,
Risk Assessment ,
Suspicious Activity Reports (SARs) ,
Terrorist Financing Regulations
On July 1, 2024, the Supreme Court issued its opinion in Corner Post, Inc. v Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System in which the Court determined when a Section 702 claim under the Administrative Procedure Act (APA)...more
7/5/2024
/ Administrative Procedure Act ,
Anti-Money Laundering ,
Bank Secrecy Act ,
BSA/AML ,
Corner Post Inc v Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System ,
Debit Cards ,
Federal Reserve ,
Final Rules ,
Financial Crimes ,
Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA) ,
Financial Services Industry ,
FinCEN ,
Interchange Fees ,
Regulation II ,
SCOTUS ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) ,
Statute of Limitations
The U.S. Department of the Treasury (“Treasury”) has released a Request for Information on the Uses, Opportunities, and Risks of Artificial Intelligence (“AI”) in the Financial Services Sector (“RFI”). Written comments are...more
6/17/2024
/ Algorithms ,
AML/CFT ,
Anti-Money Laundering ,
Artificial Intelligence ,
Bank Secrecy Act ,
BSA/AML ,
Consumer Financial Products ,
Data Privacy ,
Disclosure Requirements ,
Financial Crimes ,
Financial Institutions ,
Financial Services Industry ,
FinCEN ,
Gramm-Leach-Blilely Act ,
Investor Protection ,
Machine Learning ,
Money Laundering ,
Request For Information ,
Risk Management ,
U.S. Treasury
The Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (“FinCEN”) has issued its Year in Review for FY 2023 (“YIR”). It consists of five pages of infographics. According to FinCEN’s press release...more
6/11/2024
/ Anti-Money Laundering ,
Bank Secrecy Act ,
BSA/AML ,
Cryptocurrency ,
Currency Transaction Reports (CTR) ,
Financial Crimes ,
Financial Institutions ,
FinCEN ,
Information Sharing ,
Money Laundering ,
Suspicious Activity Reports (SARs)
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
5/14/2024
/ Anti-Money Laundering ,
Bank Secrecy Act ,
Bitcoin ,
Financial Crimes ,
Financial Institutions ,
Financial Services Industry ,
FinCEN ,
Money Services Business ,
Money Transmitter ,
Policy Statement ,
Virtual Currency
I am very pleased to co-chair again the Practicing Law Institute’s 2024 Anti-Money Laundering Conference on May 23, 2024, starting at 9 a.m. in New York City (the event also will be virtual). I am also really fortunate to be...more
5/9/2024
/ Anti-Money Laundering ,
Bank Secrecy Act ,
Blockchain ,
BSA/AML ,
Cryptoassets ,
Digital Assets ,
Financial Crimes ,
Financial Institutions ,
Financial Services Industry ,
Gaming ,
Money Laundering ,
Risk Management
The Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (“FinCEN”) recently issued a Financial Trend Analysis (“Analysis”) focusing on patterns and trends identified in Bank Secrecy Act (“BSA”) data linked to Elder Financial Exploitation...more
5/2/2024
/ Bank Secrecy Act ,
BSA/AML ,
Elder Abuse ,
Exploitation ,
Financial Crimes ,
Financial Institutions ,
Financial Services Industry ,
FinCEN ,
Money Laundering ,
New Guidance ,
Popular ,
Scams ,
Suspicious Activity Reports (SARs)
The Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (“FinCEN”) has issued a Notice on the Use of Counterfeit U.S. Passport Cards to Perpetrate Identity Theft and Fraud Schemes at Financial Institutions (“Notice”), asking financial...more
4/18/2024
/ Anti-Money Laundering ,
Counterfeiting ,
Currency Transaction Reports (CTR) ,
Financial Crimes ,
Financial Institutions ,
FinCEN ,
Fraud ,
Identity Theft ,
Money Laundering ,
Passports ,
Personally Identifiable Information ,
Popular ,
Suspicious Activity Reports (SARs)
On February 16, the Financial Crimes Enforcement Center (“FinCEN”) published a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (“NPRM”) regarding residential real estate. The final version of the NPRM published in the Federal Register is 47...more
2/23/2024
/ AML/CFT ,
Anti-Money Laundering ,
Bank Secrecy Act ,
Beneficial Owner ,
Broker-Dealer ,
BSA/AML ,
Corporate Transparency Act ,
Financial Crimes ,
Financial Institutions ,
FinCEN ,
Money Laundering ,
Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (NOPR) ,
NPRM ,
Real Estate Investments ,
Real Estate Transactions ,
Recordkeeping Requirements ,
Reporting Requirements ,
Suspicious Activity Reports (SARs)
Today we are very pleased to welcome, once again, guest blogger Dr. Kateryna Boguslavska of the Basel Institute on Governance (“Basel Institute”), who will discuss the Basel Institute’s release of the 12th annual Public...more
1/22/2024
/ AML/CFT ,
Anti-Money Laundering ,
BSA/AML ,
Corruption ,
Cryptocurrency ,
FATF ,
Financial Crimes ,
Financial Institutions ,
Financial Transactions ,
INTERPOL ,
Money Laundering ,
Popular ,
Terrorist Financing Regulations
The start of calendar year 2024 will bring a new reporting obligation for approximately 32.5 million business organizations. Under the Corporate Transparency Act, covered companies and their senior officers must obtain...more
This week, the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (“FinCEN”) issued the much-anticipated final rule (“Final Rule”) under the Corporate Transparency Act (“CTA”) regarding access to beneficial ownership information (“BOI”)...more
12/22/2023
/ Anti-Money Laundering ,
Beneficial Owner ,
BSA/AML ,
Corporate Transparency Act ,
Customer Due Diligence (CDD) ,
Final Rules ,
Financial Crimes ,
Financial Institutions ,
Financial Regulatory Reform ,
FinCEN ,
Gramm-Leach-Blilely Act ,
Money Laundering ,
Popular ,
Reporting Requirements ,
Suspicious Activity Reports (SARs) ,
YouTube
In its Fall 2023 Semiannual Risk Perspective, published on December 7, the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (“OCC”) reported on key issues facing the federal banking system. In evaluating the overall soundness of...more
12/15/2023
/ Anti-Money Laundering ,
Artificial Intelligence ,
Bank Secrecy Act ,
Banks ,
BSA/AML ,
Financial Crimes ,
Financial Institutions ,
Financial Services Industry ,
FinTech ,
Machine Learning ,
OCC ,
Peer-to-Peer ,
Popular ,
Risk Management ,
Suspicious Activity Reports (SARs) ,
Third-Party Relationships
1. What Is the Corporate Transparency Act and Why Was It Enacted? Congress enacted the Corporate Transparency Act (CTA) on January 1, 2021, to address concerns that the inaccessibility of U.S. companies’ beneficial ownership...more
12/5/2023
/ Beneficial Owner ,
Corporate Transparency Act ,
Filing Requirements ,
Financial Crimes ,
Financial Services Industry ,
FinCEN ,
Limited Liability Company (LLC) ,
PCAOB ,
Personal Information ,
Reporting Requirements ,
Subsidiaries ,
Tax Exemptions ,
Trustees
The Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (“FinCEN”) has extended the deadline for reporting beneficial ownership information (“BOI”) under the Corporate Transparency Act (“CTA”) for reporting companies formed in 2024. ...more
On November 16, the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (“FinCEN”) issued – again –expanded FAQs pertaining to beneficial ownership information (“BOI”) reportable under the Corporate Transparency Act (“CTA”). These expanded...more
11/17/2023
/ Anti-Money Laundering ,
Beneficial Owner ,
Corporate Transparency Act ,
Customer Due Diligence (CDD) ,
Financial Crimes ,
FinCEN ,
Lenders ,
Mortgage Lenders ,
Popular ,
Proposed Legislation ,
Reporting Requirements
The new Director of FinCEN, Andrea Gacki, addressed several key topics on October 3, 2023 at the Association of Certified Anti-Money Laundering Specialists (“ACAMS”) conference in Las Vegas, Nevada. Specifically, Director...more
10/9/2023
/ Advanced Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (ANPRM) ,
AML/CFT ,
Anti-Money Laundering ,
Bank Secrecy Act ,
Beneficial Owner ,
Broker-Dealer ,
BSA/AML ,
Corporate Transparency Act ,
Department of Justice (DOJ) ,
Financial Crimes ,
Financial Institutions ,
Financial Transactions ,
FinCEN ,
Investment Adviser ,
Money Laundering ,
Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (NOPR) ,
Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) ,
Recordkeeping Requirements ,
Reporting Requirements ,
Suspicious Activity Reports (SARs) ,
Whistleblowers
The Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (“FinCEN”) has issued a flurry of publications relating to the Corporate Transparency Act (“CTA”). They pertain, in part, to a proposed extension of the filing deadline for certain...more
10/2/2023
/ Anti-Corruption ,
Anti-Money Laundering ,
Beneficial Owner ,
Comment Period ,
Corporate Transparency Act ,
Filing Deadlines ,
Financial Crimes ,
Financial Regulatory Reform ,
FinCEN ,
National Security ,
Regulatory Agenda ,
Regulatory Requirements ,
Reporting Requirements
The Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (“FinCEN”) has issued a notice entitled “FinCEN Calls Attention to Payroll Tax Evasion and Workers’ Compensation Fraud in the Construction Sector” (the “Notice”). According to the...more
8/17/2023
/ Anti-Money Laundering ,
Construction Industry ,
Currency Transaction Reports (CTR) ,
Financial Crimes ,
Financial Fraud ,
Financial Institutions ,
FinCEN ,
Payroll Taxes ,
Popular ,
Tax Evasion ,
Wage and Hour ,
Workers' Compensation Claim
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
8/14/2023
/ AML/CFT ,
Anti-Money Laundering ,
Bank Secrecy Act ,
BSA/AML ,
CFTC ,
Corporate Transparency Act ,
Digital Assets ,
FBAR ,
Financial Crimes ,
Financial Institutions ,
Financial Regulatory Reform ,
FinCEN ,
Money Laundering ,
Money Services Business ,
NDAA ,
Proposed Legislation ,
Regulatory Agenda ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC)
In an unusual move, Laura Akahoshi, former Rabobank (the “Bank”) Chief Compliance Officer (“CCO”), filed on July 6, 2023 an opposition to the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency’s (“OCC”) dismissal of its own...more
7/21/2023
/ Administrative Law Judge (ALJ) ,
Anti-Money Laundering ,
Banking Examinations ,
BSA/AML ,
Employee Misconduct ,
Enforcement Actions ,
Financial Crimes ,
Financial Institutions ,
Money Laundering ,
OCC ,
Popular ,
Rabobank ,
White Collar Crimes