We blogged last year about the Final Rule issued by the U.S. Department of the Treasury’s Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN) extending Anti-Money Laundering/Countering the Financing of Terrorism (AML/CFT)...more
7/25/2025
/ AML/CFT ,
Anti-Money Laundering ,
Bank Secrecy Act ,
BSA/AML ,
Currency Transaction Reports (CTR) ,
Final Rules ,
Financial Crimes ,
Financial Institutions ,
Financial Services Industry ,
FinCEN ,
Investment Adviser ,
Regulatory Agencies ,
Regulatory Reform ,
Regulatory Requirements ,
Suspicious Activity Reports (SARs) ,
U.S. Treasury
On March 13, 2025, the Guiding and Establishing National Innovation for U.S. Stablecoins (GENIUS) Act, which aims to establish a regulatory framework for payment stablecoins, passed the United States Committee on Banking,...more
Recent developments in the world of crypto have come at a rapid pace to open 2025 not only signaling but, in some instances, explicitly declaring the Trump Administration’s intent to significantly relax or eliminate...more
3/10/2025
/ Anti-Money Laundering ,
Cryptocurrency ,
Digital Assets ,
Enforcement Actions ,
Executive Orders ,
Financial Regulatory Reform ,
FinCEN ,
Regulatory Agenda ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) ,
Securities Regulation ,
Trump Administration
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
The new administration has signaled that the Department of Justice (“DOJ”) will significantly shift its approach to criminal corporate enforcement. Specifically, on February 5, 2025, newly-confirmed United States Attorney...more
2/14/2025
/ Anti-Money Laundering ,
Corporate Governance ,
Corporate Misconduct ,
Criminal Prosecution ,
Department of Justice (DOJ) ,
Enforcement Actions ,
Executive Orders ,
Financial Institutions ,
Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA) ,
Money Laundering ,
Regulatory Agenda ,
Regulatory Reform ,
Trump Administration
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
Following up on its Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (“NPR”), which we discussed back in March, the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN) released on August 28th a final rule extending Anti-Money Laundering/Countering...more
9/13/2024
/ AML/CFT ,
Anti-Money Laundering ,
Bank Secrecy Act ,
BSA/AML ,
Final Rules ,
Financial Crimes ,
Financial Institutions ,
Financial Services Industry ,
FinCEN ,
Investment Adviser ,
Money Laundering ,
Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (NOPR) ,
Reporting Requirements ,
Risk Assessment ,
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
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)
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 July 31, 2023, the United States Securities and Exchange Commission (“SEC”) published an alert outlining deficiencies the Department of Examinations has observed in broker-dealers’ (“BD”) compliance with anti-money...more
On June 5, 2023, the SEC filed an extensive civil complaint against Binance Holdings Limited, its assorted affiliates and its beneficial owner and CEO, Changpeng Zhao, alleging multiple violations of the Securities Act of...more
After reviewing how the AMLA expands the BSA’s goals, we look at which AMLA provisions have the most impact on BSA compliance, including the AMLA’s emphasis on information sharing, the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network’s...more
Summary -
On September 30, 2022, the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN), a unit of the U.S. Department of Treasury, issued its final rule, Beneficial Ownership Information Reporting Requirements (Final Rule),...more
First Post in a Two-Post Series on the CTA Implementing Regulations -
On September 30, 2022, the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (“FinCEN”) issued its final rule, Beneficial Ownership Information Reporting...more
As we approach the two-year anniversary of the passage of the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security Act (“CARES Act”), the scope and costs of fraud in connection with its relief programs continues to mount. To date,...more
Questions of which, if any, regulatory regimes apply to the variety of participants in the cryptocurrency market continue to dog the industry. On February 28, 2022, whether a cryptocurrency futures trading platform...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
The Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (“FinCEN”) recently complied with two important deadlines under the Anti-Money Laundering Act (“AML Act”) — issuing national priorities for AML and countering the financing of...more
The Small Business Administration (“SBA”) recently issued a procedural notice (the “Notice”) to “All SBA Employees and Paycheck Protection Program Lenders” setting forth “Revised SBA Paycheck Protection Platform Procedures...more
With the third round of lending through the Paycheck Protection Program (“PPP”) in full swing, the Small Business Administration (“SBA”) – administrator of the PPP – has developed new guidance in consultation with the United...more
First Blog Post in an Extended Series on Legislative Changes to BSA/AML Regulatory Regime -
Change is upon us. The U.S. House and Senate have passed – over a Presidential veto – the National Defense Authorization Act...more
On December 10, 2020, Kenneth Blanco, Director of FinCEN, issued public comments at the American Bankers Association/American Bar Association Financial Crimes Enforcement Conference announcing new FinCEN guidance for covered...more
As we’ve blogged, high-end artwork can create an ideal vehicle for money laundering. And, as we’ve also blogged, the Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations for the U.S. Senate released in July 2020 a detailed report titled...more
Second Post in a Three-Post Series Regarding Recent Regulatory Action by FinCEN -
On September 16, 2020, the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (“FinCEN”) issued an Advance Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (“ANPRM”)...more