Does it matter if a law is valid if the Government refuses to enforce it? For months, we have watched (and blogged on) courts grappling with the constitutionality and enforceability of the Corporate Transparency Act (“CTA”)....more
Developments concerning the enforceability and enforcement of the CTA came at a rapid clip last week. As things stand, the government may enforce the CTA pending a Texas court appeal in Smith v. U.S. Department of the...more
The Fifth Circuit has granted the government’s request to stay temporarily the order and injunction issued by the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Texas, which had issued a nationwide stay prohibiting...more
12/24/2024
/ Anti-Corruption ,
Anti-Money Laundering ,
Beneficial Owner ,
Constitutional Challenges ,
Corporate Transparency Act ,
Corruption ,
Customer Due Diligence (CDD) ,
Financial Crimes ,
FinCEN ,
National Security ,
Preliminary Injunctions ,
Regulatory Requirements ,
Reporting Requirements ,
Stays
As we previously blogged, the Financial Crimes Enforcement Center (“FinCEN”) published Anti-Money Laundering Regulations for Residential Real Estate Transfers (“Final Rule”) regarding residential real estate. The Final Rule,...more
11/18/2024
/ Anti-Money Laundering ,
Beneficial Owner ,
Comment Period ,
Financial Institutions ,
FinCEN ,
GTO ,
Money Laundering ,
Proposed Rules ,
Real Estate Investments ,
Real Estate Transactions ,
Regulatory Agenda ,
Reporting Requirements
Various industry groups have filed lawsuits in multiple federal districts challenging the constitutionality of the Corporate Transparency Act (“CTA”). The first such suit, filed in the Northern District of Alabama, resulted...more
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)
In this post, we will once again consider the issue of the utility of Bank Secrecy Act (BSA) filings to the global anti-money laundering/countering the financing of terrorism (AML/CFT) compliance regime....more
7/29/2024
/ AML/CFT ,
Anti-Money Laundering ,
Bank Secrecy Act ,
BSA/AML ,
Financial Crimes ,
Financial Institutions ,
Financial Services Industry ,
FinCEN ,
Money Laundering ,
Risk Assessment ,
Suspicious Activity Reports (SARs) ,
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
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)
Years in the making, on February 13, the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (“FinCEN”) issued a notice of proposed rulemaking (“NPRM”) to include “investment adviser” (“IA”) within the definition of “financial institution”...more
3/6/2024
/ AML/CFT ,
Anti-Money Laundering ,
Bank Secrecy Act ,
Beneficial Owner ,
BSA/AML ,
Corporate Transparency Act ,
Customer Due Diligence (CDD) ,
Customer Identification Program (CIP) ,
FinCEN ,
Investment Adviser ,
Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (NOPR) ,
NPRM ,
Proposed Rules ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) ,
Suspicious Activity Reports (SARs)
The beneficial ownership information (“BOI”) registry under the Corporate Transparency Act (“CTA”) is now up and running at the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (“FinCEN”). This post will follow up on a previous blog...more
On November 22, 2023, the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (“FinCEN”), in close coordination with the Internal Revenue Service (“IRS”) Criminal Investigation (“CI”), issued an alert (“Alert”) regarding the COVID-19...more
11/29/2023
/ Bank Secrecy Act ,
CARES Act ,
Coronavirus/COVID-19 ,
Criminal Investigations ,
Employee Retention ,
Employees ,
FinCEN ,
Fraud ,
IRS ,
Online Banking ,
Payroll Taxes ,
Peer-to-Peer ,
Small Business ,
Suspicious Activity Reports (SARs) ,
Tax Credits
As the world now knows, Binance Holdings Limited, doing business as Binance.com (“Binance” or the “Company”), has entered into a plea agreement with the U.S. Department of Justice (“DOJ”)....more
11/27/2023
/ Anti-Money Laundering ,
Bank Secrecy Act ,
CFTC ,
Consent Order ,
Cryptocurrency ,
Department of Justice (DOJ) ,
Digital Assets ,
Enforcement Actions ,
FinCEN ,
Guilty Pleas ,
International Emergency Economic Powers Act (IEEPA) ,
Money Laundering ,
Money Services Business ,
Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) ,
Plea Agreements ,
Securities Act of 1933 ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) ,
Securities Exchange Act of 1934 ,
Suspicious Activity Reports (SARs)
On October 23, the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (“FinCEN”) published a notice of proposed rulemaking (“NPRM”) entitled Proposal of Special Measure Regarding Convertible Virtual Currency Mixing, as a Class of...more
11/1/2023
/ Anti-Money Laundering ,
Bank Secrecy Act ,
BSA/AML ,
Convertible Virtual Currencies (CVCs) ,
Financial Institutions ,
Financial Services Industry ,
FinCEN ,
Money Laundering ,
NPRM ,
Recordkeeping Requirements ,
Virtual Currency
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 published a Small Entity Compliance Guide (the “Guide”) for beneficial ownership information (“BOI”) reporting under the Corporate Transparency Act (“CTA”), as well as...more
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 March 24, 2023, the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN) issued a press release and published initial guidance to assist the public in understanding the beneficial ownership information (BOI) reporting...more
Form Repeatedly Invites Response of “Unknown” As to Critical Information -
The Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (“FinCEN”) has issued a notice and request for comment (“Notice”) on the proposed form to collect and...more
The Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (“FinCEN”) issued on December 22 a Financial Trend Analysis regarding Bank Secrecy Act (“BSA”) filings during the period of March to October 2022 (the “Report”) reflecting financial...more
The Office of Foreign Assets Control (“OFAC”) and the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (“FinCEN”) announced on October 11 simultaneous settlements with Bittrex, Inc. (“Bittrex”), a virtual currency exchange and hosted...more
The U.S. Government Accountability Office (“GAO”) recently issued a public version of a more detailed and confidential report previously sent to Congress summarizing the GAO’s review of the use of virtual currencies to...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
Yesterday, the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (“FinCEN”) issued a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (“NPRM”) regarding the beneficial ownership reporting requirements of the Corporate Transparency Act (“CTA”), which...more