Strengthening Compliance: Lessons From the OCC's Consent Order With Patriot Bank — Payments Pros – The Payments Law Podcast
Recent Developments in Anti-Money Laundering - The Consumer Finance Podcast
Investment Management Update – Exit Strategies
On June 25, the U.S. Department of the Treasury’s Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN) issued its first orders under the FEND Off Fentanyl Act, targeting three Mexican financial institutions: CIBanco S.A. (CIBanco),...more
The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission's recent anti-money laundering enforcement actions reflect a number of trends and developments, but one positive and one negative trend stand out. Originally published in Law360...more
The Bank Secrecy Act (“BSA”) and implementing regulations promulgated by the U.S. Treasury Department’s Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (“FinCEN”) require that broker-dealers file a suspicious activity report (SAR”) with...more
After two decades and three proposed rulemakings on whether investment advisers should have anti-money laundering (AML) and countering the financing of terrorism (CFT) program requirements and attempting to identify the...more
On August 16, the U.S. Department of the Treasury published its semiannual regulatory agenda in the Federal Register, detailing the agency’s upcoming regulatory actions and priorities. The agenda outlines the proposed, final,...more
On July 3, the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN) published a notice of proposed rulemaking (NPRM) as part of a broader initiative to “strengthen, modernize, and improve” financial institutions’ anti-money...more
In a sequel to FinCEN’s proposal earlier this year to extend anti-money laundering and Bank Secrecy Act regulations to investment advisers (AML/BSA Proposal), on May 13, 2024, FinCEN and the SEC jointly issued a new Notice of...more
On February 13, 2024, FinCEN issued a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (NPRM) to deter criminals and foreign adversaries who seek to potentially compromise the U.S. financial system and assets through investment advisors. If...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
On February 16, the Financial Crimes Enforcement Center (“FinCEN”) published a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (“NPRM”) regarding residential real estate. The final version of the NPRM published in the Federal Register is 47...more
On February 13, 2024, the United States Treasury’s Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (“FinCEN”) issued a proposed rule that would apply comprehensive anti-money laundering and countering the financing of terrorism...more
The United States Department of the Treasury has announced that it is working to address what it perceives as money laundering risks associated with investment advisers. Specifically, the agency asserts that absent consistent...more
As reported in more detail on our Regulatory Oversight blog, the Securities and Exchange Commission’s Division of Examinations recently released its 2024 Examination Priorities report. The report underscores the SEC’s intent...more
The new Director of FinCEN, Andrea Gacki, addressed several key topics on October 3, 2023 at the Association of Certified Anti-Money Laundering Specialists (“ACAMS”) conference in Las Vegas, Nevada. Specifically, Director...more
The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) is responsible for protecting investors and ensuring the integrity of the securities markets. As part of this mission, the SEC requires broker-dealers to comply with...more
AML (Anti Money Laundering) reforms led to the Corporate Transparency Act. On January 1, 2021, Congress enacted the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2021 (the NDAA), after overriding a presidential veto....more
Insider trading is a front-and-center issue for the SEC, and consequently must be for financial services firms as well. The SEC included misuse of material non-public information (MNPI) on its list of 2022 exam priorities for...more
On February 24, 2022, two of three founders of an off-shore cryptocurrency derivatives exchange, the Bitcoin Mercantile Exchange or “BitMEX,” pled guilty to violating the Bank Secrecy Act (BSA) by failing to maintain an...more
Action Highlights that Even Sophisticated Companies Serious about Compliance are not Immune from AML Enforcement – and the Importance of Cooperation When Cutting a Deal...more
1. AML Laws - Federal anti-money laundering (“AML”) laws are complex in nature and apply to a broad category of institutions and businesses. One of the most important AML laws is the Bank Secrecy Act, which obligates...more
The Situation: The Securities and Exchange Commission’s Division of Examinations ("EXAMS") released a Risk Alert on March 29, 2021, reminding broker-dealers of their obligation to comply with anti-money laundering ("AML")...more
On March 29, 2021, the Securities and Exchange Commission (“SEC”) began to make good on its promise to make AML a key examination priority in 2021 by issuing a risk alert authored by the Division of Examinations (“EXAMS”)...more
Money laundering compliance is a critical area for banks, broker-dealers and others in the financial world. The importance of this area was recently highlighted by the passage of the Corporate Transparency Act or CTA to...more
The Commission periodically has filed enforcement actions against broker-dealers for failing to file SARs - suspicious activity reports - typically centered on a failure to file reports regarding microcap issuers. Those...more
Interactive Brokers LLC (“Interactive Brokers”) recently settled with three separate regulatory entities for a total of $38 million, without admitting or denying the findings. According to the SEC, Interactive Brokers failed...more