The Department of the Treasury’s Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN) on August 25, 2015 proposed rules to require SEC- registered investment advisers to adopt and maintain anti-money laundering (AML) programs and to file suspicious activity reports (SARs). The rules would not apply to state-registered investment advisers.

FinCEN’s rules would define investment advisers as “financial institutions” for purposes of the Bank Secrecy Act (BSA). Thus, investment advisers would face similar requirements as those that apply to banks, broker-dealers and mutual funds. These requirements would include adopting compliance policies, filing Currency Transaction Reports (CTRs) and keeping records relating to transmittal of funds. FinCEN’s proposals would not require advisers to adopt a customer identification (“know your customer” or KYC) program, which FinCEN likely will address in the future. FinCEN would delegate compliance examination responsibility to the SEC.