FINCast Ep. 19 - The DPRK Sanctions Program
On May 1, 2025, the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN) released a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (NPRM) regarding the Huione Group, a foreign financial institution located in Cambodia. This proposal, enacted under...more
International business and offshore investment and banking create genuine risk and exposure with the IRS. This extends to real estate ownership outside of the U.S. and other offshore-related financial activities, which raise...more
The IRS has clearly identified legitimate reasons why "U.S. Persons" would establish or maintain ownership in a foreign trust. However, a foreign trust creates complex IRS reporting requirements for US taxpayers who own a...more
Is it too late to correct past FBARs and file amended returns with the IRS? The net is closing in on U.S. taxpayers with unreported or under-reported domestic and offshore income and assets. The IRS has increased audits in...more
The Financial Action Task Force (FATF) has updated its ‘grey list’ of jurisdictions under increased monitoring, removing Senegal and adding Algeria, Angola, Côte d’Ivoire, and Lebanon. The intergovernmental organization made...more
A Gesture Providing Limited Solace to a Now-Defunct Bank - Six years ago, in early 2018, we blogged about the U.S. Department of the Treasury’s Financial Crimes Enforcement Network’s (“FinCEN’s”) designation of ABLV Bank, AS...more
What is an FBAR, and what information is a U.S. taxpayer required to report to the U.S. Government and the IRS? There are many questions about the requirements for U.S. taxpayers with foreign accounts, investments, and...more
Are you thinking of moving to another country? Over the past decade, a record number of U.S. citizens have decided to live and work abroad. There are many issues you may not have considered that will impact any decision to...more
On April 24, 2024, President Biden signed into law H.R. 815, an emergency appropriations package billed as authorizing $95 billion in foreign aid to Ukraine and Israel (the Act). While the Ukraine and Israel aid provisions...more
January 29, 2024- The U.S. Department of the Treasury issued a finding and notice of proposed rulemaking (NPRM) that identifies an Iraqi bank that serves as a conduit for terrorist financing, as a foreign financial...more
Key Points - On December 22, 2023, President Biden issued E.O. 14114 “Taking Additional Steps With Respect to the Russian Federation’s Harmful Activities.” Specifically, E.O. 14114, which amends E.O. 14024 and E.O. 14068,...more
Could Artificial Intelligence (AI) increase the likelihood of an IRS audit in your future? How does the IRS use AI to identify US taxpayers who attempt to hide assets, under-report income or otherwise cheat the IRS? In...more
The Federal Financial Institutions Examination Council (FFIEC) released the fifth phase of updates to the FFIEC Bank Secrecy Act/Anti-Money Laundering (BSA/AML) Examination Manual (the Manual) on August 2, 2023. While the...more
The Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (“FinCEN”) has been busy during the last few weeks – and presumably will remain busy for the rest of 2021, as it attempts to satisfy numerous mandates imposed by the Anti-Money...more
Under current FinCEN regulations, a foreign account holding virtual currency is not reportable on the FBAR. However, FinCEN in its FinCEN Notice 2020-2, proposes amending reports of foreign financial accounts (FBAR)...more
What is the Report of Foreign Bank and Financial Accounts (FBAR)? Congress enacted the statutory basis for the requirement to report foreign bank and financial accounts in 1970 as part of the “Currency and Foreign...more
Indictment Again Highlights the Role of Correspondent Banking in Money Laundering - On May 28, 2020, the U.S. Department of Justice (“DOJ”) unsealed a 50-page indictment against 28 North Korean and 5 Chinese bankers...more
On February 25, 2020, the Tenth Circuit Court of Appeals upheld the dismissal of shareholders’ securities-fraud class action against the Western Union Company (“Western Union”) and several of its current and former executive...more
Presented below is our summary of significant Internal Revenue Service (IRS) guidance and relevant tax matters for the week of December 23 – 27, 2019. December 20, 2019: The Department of the Treasury’s Financial Crimes...more
On 25 October the U.S. Departments of the Treasury and State announced the establishment of a new channel for conducting due diligence on humanitarian trade with Iran. Foreign governments and foreign financial institutions...more
On October 25, 2019, FinCEN issued a final rule imposing the Fifth Special Measure against the Islamic Republic of Iran as a “jurisdiction of primary money laundering concern” (“Final Rule”) under Section 311 of the USA...more
Leaders of FinCEN, CFTC and SEC Attempt an Intricate Dance of Competing Oversight of Virtual Currency - On October 11, the leaders of the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (“FinCEN”), the Commodity Futures Trading...more
The Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN) issued a press release yesterday, entitled “New FinCEN Division Focuses on Identifying Primary Foreign Money Laundering Threats.”...more
On May 30, 2018, the AICPA (American Institute of Certified Public Accountants) wrote a letter to the IRS to obtain further definition and clarity regarding Virtual Currency (VC) FATCA and FBAR reporting requirements....more
On Monday, the United States announced that it would not extend the temporary waivers that were granted to eight countries last November allowing them to purchase Iranian oil without threat of sanctions. The temporary waivers...more