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
On 10/10/24, FinCEN assessed a record $1.3 billion penalty against TD Bank for BSA violations. This unprecedented penalty should function as a cautionary message and a warning to all financial institutions. All financial...more
On 28 August 2024, the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN) issued its Final Rulemaking to include certain investment advisers in the definition of a “financial institution” under the Bank Secrecy Act (BSA). The...more
On August 28, 2024, the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (“FinCEN”) issued a final rule (the “Final Rule”) that subjects certain registered investment advisers (“RIAs”) and exempt reporting advisers (“ERAs”) to anti-money...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
The Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (“FinCEN”) has issued a Notice on the Use of Counterfeit U.S. Passport Cards to Perpetrate Identity Theft and Fraud Schemes at Financial Institutions (“Notice”), asking financial...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
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
Last week, FinCEN “communicated,” so to speak, to private industry, law enforcement, regulators, and legislators in three very different ways: through a FY 2022 Year In Review infographic; a first-of-its kind enforcement...more
According to the IRS and FinCEN, Casinos licensed to do business as casinos and which have gross annual gaming revenues in excess of $1,000,000 are Financial Institutions subject to the requirements of the Bank Secrecy Act,...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
Eighth Blog Post in an Extended Series on Legislative Changes to the BSA/AML Regulatory Regime - As we have blogged, the Anti-Money Laundering Act of 2020 (“AMLA”) contains major changes to the Bank Secrecy Act (“BSA”),...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
On April 18, 2019, the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (“FinCEN”) announced its first enforcement action against a peer-to-peer virtual currency exchanger....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 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
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
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
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
In August 2014, the U.S. Department of the Treasury’s Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (“FinCEN”) issued an advisory urging leadership within all U.S. financial institutions to actively promote a culture of compliance...more
FinCEN has proposed extending its anti-money laundering (AML) program requirement for banks to banks that are not subject to regulation by a federal functional regulator, including state chartered limited purpose trust...more