On December 23, the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN) published a final rule amending the Bank Secrecy Act civil penalty regulations concerning requirements for reporting foreign financial accounts and transactions with foreign financial agencies. Specifically, the final rule removes civil penalty language that was made obsolete by the American Jobs Creation Act of 2004’s enactment of statutory revisions to the computation of a civil money penalty, which included provisions for increasing the maximum penalty for willful violations. The final rule took effect immediately.