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
The Proposed Rule Would Subject Certain Investment Advisers to a Broad Range of AML/CFT Obligations and Represents a Significant Development for the Sector - Regulators have long considered the lack of anti-money...more
The Department of Justice (“DOJ”) has been very active in the Bank Secrecy Act (“BSA”) / Anti-Money Laundering (“AML”) space, as reflected by a recent series of individual prosecutions and corporate non-prosecution agreements...more
When Congress overrode President Trump’s veto of the National Defense Authorization Act on January 1, 2021, it enacted the Anti-Money Laundering Act (AMLA), which was part of the defense authorization bill. In doing so,...more
On September 15, 2020, FinCEN issued a Final Rule stating that Banks lacking a Federal Functional Regulator will be required to establish and implement AML programs including policies and procedures, a dedicated compliance...more
The Financial Crimes Enforcement Network takes the first of likely many steps to reform the outdated Bank Secrecy Act / Anti-Money Laundering regulatory scheme. Our Financial Services & Products and White Collar, Government &...more
In its 2020 National Strategy for Combating Terrorist and Other Illicit Financing (“2020 Strategy”), the U.S. Department of Treasury (“Treasury”) has laid out its AML and money laundering enforcement priorities. Last week, we...more
In November 2018, Missouri voters passed Amendment 2, setting in motion state regulated medical marijuana. Over the last month, the Missouri Department of Health & Senior Services (DHSS) began approving license applications...more
First Post in a Two-Part Series - Recent actions in the crypto realm demonstrate that authorities and regulators have not slackened their commitment to applying and enforcing Anti-Money Laundering (“AML”) laws and...more
The stakes are high in combating global financial crime. If criminals succeed in hiding ill-gotten gains, they can continue to commit crimes and finance terrorism. ...more
First Post in a Two-Part Series - Late last week, the U.S. Senate Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs (the “Banking Committee”) met in open session to conduct a hearing on “Combating Money Laundering and Other...more
As we just blogged, Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (“FinCEN”) Director Kenneth Blanco recently touted the value of Suspicious Activity Reports (“SARs”) in the context of discussing anti-money laundering (“AML”)...more
As we blogged yesterday, British Columbia’s (“B.C.”) Attorney General David Eby recently released an independent and very detailed report examining money laundering in B.C.’s gaming industry and providing 48 recommendations...more
Since 1985, Casinos that have Gross Annual Gaming Revenues in excess of $1,000,000 are considered to be Financial Institutions and are subject to the requirements of the Bank Secrecy Act (BSA). ...more
As we blogged earlier this week, Congress is considering a new draft bill, the Counter Terrorism and Illicit Finance Act (“CTIFA”), in committee in the Senate. The CTIFA proposes the most substantial overhaul to the Bank...more
Congress is considering a new draft bill, the Counter Terrorism and Illicit Finance Act (“CTIFA”), currently in committee in the Senate. The CTIFA proposes the most substantial overhaul to the Bank Secrecy Act (“BSA”) since...more
On May 2016, FinCEN issued a “Fifth Pillar” of Customer Due Diligence (CDD) calling it the “CDD Rule”, which currently takes effect on May 11, 2018. The CDD Rule applies to Covered Financial Institutions (federally...more
In its Summer 2017 issue of Supervisory Insights, published last week, the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (“FDIC”) provides some insight into its examination process and outcomes for Bank Secrecy Act (“BSA”)/Anti-Money...more
In the first several months of 2017, we have seen significant anti-money laundering settlements and penalties in the money transmitting business arising from lax compliance programs, including the record-setting Western Union...more
Forfeiture actions by Internal Revenue Service Criminal Investigation (IRS CI) based on alleged structuring activity have come under fire, yet again. Specifically, the Treasury Inspector General for Tax Administration (TIGTA)...more
Earlier this week, we blogged about how the United States recently declared the Philippines to be a “major money laundering country.” On the same day of our post, March 7, the European Parliament (EP) issued a Report which...more
In part two of our review of the 2016 developments in Anti-Money Laundering (AML), the Bank Secrecy Act (BSA), the criminal money laundering statutes, forfeiture, and related issues, we discuss four additional key topics... ...more
The federal courts continued in 2016 to produce a stream of cases pertaining to money laundering. We focus on three below because they involve analysis of basic issues that frequently arise in money laundering litigation....more
The field of forfeiture saw significant action in 2016. The IRS offered to return forfeited funds used in structuring, but Congress still may clip its ability to forfeit such funds. Meanwhile, DOJ renewed a controversial...more
Bank Secrecy Act of 1970 - Requires U.S. financial institutions to assist U.S. government agencies to detect and prevent money laundering by keeping records of cash purchases of negotiable instruments, and file reports...more