Global Regulatory Insights’ Post

The U.S. Department of the Treasury's Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN) has introduced a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (NPRM) to thwart criminals and foreign adversaries from exploiting the U.S. financial system through investment advisers. This rule, complementing recent actions targeting risks from anonymous companies and all-cash real estate transactions, aims to enhance transparency and aid law enforcement in detecting illicit funds entering the U.S. economy. Under the proposed rule, certain investment advisers would be required to adhere to Anti-Money Laundering and Countering the Financing of Terrorism (AML/CFT) standards outlined in the Bank Secrecy Act (BSA). This includes implementing risk-based AML/CFT programs, reporting suspicious activity to FinCEN, and maintaining proper recordkeeping. The rule addresses the sector's vulnerabilities, where inconsistent application of AML/CFT requirements allows both legitimate and illicit investors to exploit regulatory gaps. FinCEN Director Andrea Gacki emphasized the critical role investment advisers play as gatekeepers to the American economy, managing vast sums of money. The proposed rule aims to level the regulatory landscape, safeguarding economic and national security, and protecting American businesses from money laundering and illicit wealth concealment. Investment advisers registered with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), along with exempt reporting advisers, would be subject to the rule, which also facilitates information-sharing among FinCEN, law enforcement, and financial institutions. Additionally, examination authority would be delegated to the SEC, leveraging its expertise in regulating investment advisers and AML/CFT oversight. This proposed rule builds on previous recommendations to assess industry risks and aims to fortify financial transparency while minimizing undue burdens on businesses. #aml #amlcft #amlcompliance #amltraining #kyc #kyb #knowyourcustomer #financialcrime #financialanalysis #financialawareness #financialdata #financialcompliance 

BREAKING: FinCEN issues analysis on elder financial exploitation The US Department of the Treasury’s Financial Crimes Enforcement Network, US Treasury (FinCEN), issued a Financial Trend Analysis today focusing on patterns and trends identified in Bank Secrecy Act (#BSA) data linked to Elder Financial Exploitation (#EFE), or the illegal or improper use of an older adult’s funds, property, or assets. FinCEN examined BSA reports filed between June 15, 2022 and June 15, 2023, that either used the key term referenced in FinCEN’s June 2022 EFE Advisory or checked “Elder Financial Exploitation” as a suspicious activity type. This amounted to 155,415 filings over this period indicating roughly $27 billion in EFE-related suspicious activity. Find the full story on 'AML Intelligence' now! #followthemoney #aml #cft #banks #banking #fintech #finreg #regtech #compliance #US #FinCEN James Treacy Stephen Rae Alisha H. https://lnkd.in/ek97NHPP

🔍 𝐒𝐭𝐚𝐲 𝐈𝐧𝐟𝐨𝐫𝐦𝐞𝐝: 𝐑𝐞𝐩𝐨𝐫𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐠, 𝐏𝐫𝐨𝐜𝐞𝐝𝐮𝐫𝐞𝐬, 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐏𝐞𝐧𝐚𝐥𝐭𝐢𝐞𝐬 𝐑𝐞𝐠𝐮𝐥𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧𝐬 𝐔𝐩𝐝𝐚𝐭𝐞 📝 Action Alert: Interim Final Rule; Request for Comments 🚀 Summary: The Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC), a division of the Department of the Treasury, is rolling out an interim final rule to enhance the Reporting, Procedures, and Penalties Regulations. This amendment mandates electronic filing for specific submissions to OFAC, streamlines reporting requirements concerning blocked property and rejected transactions, and introduces new reporting obligations. 🔒 Key Changes Include: - Electronic submission mandate for reports on blocked property and rejected transactions via the OFAC Reporting System. - Removal of mail option for certain submissions. - Clarification and modification of reporting requirements for financial institutions. - Additional reporting for unblocked or transferred blocked property. - Improved procedures for rectifying errors related to blocked property. - Updates on Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) accessibility. - Introduction of a petition process for administrative reconsideration. 📌 𝐒𝐭𝐚𝐲 𝐂𝐨𝐦𝐩𝐥𝐢𝐚𝐧𝐭, 𝐒𝐭𝐚𝐲 𝐈𝐧𝐟𝐨𝐫𝐦𝐞𝐝! #Compliance #Regulations #OFAC #FinancialInstitutions #StayInformed

🚨 Important Update 🚨 A recent letter from FCA addressed to CEOs of Annex 1 firms has shed light on the essential matter of compliance with the Money Laundering, Terrorist Financing, and Transfer of Funds Regulations. The FCA's assessments reveal that, despite progress, some firms are not meeting basic compliance expectations. Key issues include discrepancies in registered versus actual activities, financial crime controls lagging behind business growth, inadequate risk assessments, and insufficient resources for managing financial crime risks. With approximately 1,000 Annex 1 registered firms under scrutiny, the message is clear: Now is the time for action. Emad Aladhal, Director of a specialized FCA team combating financial crime, emphasizes "Poor financial crime controls make it easier for criminals to abuse the financial system and damage the integrity of UK markets" The next six months are critical for Annex 1 firms to assess and fortify their financial crime controls. Failure to address these issues may lead to regulatory actions. Full article: https://lnkd.in/dx-CB4UT #RegTech #AML #FinancialCrime #FCA #Compliance

My friend and mentor Louis DeStefano, MBA, CAMS and I have a bet over whether #FinCEN will publish its national exam regulation in the next 11 days. 1. We will finally have regulatory requirements for #risk #assessments. 2. The FinCEN National Priorities must be incorporated into our #AML and #OFAC #compliance programs. 3. Federal and State #regulators will have power to test compliance with the regulation. 4. There will be a national exam of financial institutions subject to the BSA on a yearly basis. 5. Institutions that have significant risk exposure to one or more national priorities will have to demonstrate how their compliance program is tailored to addressing those specific risks. 6. With the exception of the #crypto industry, banks that cater to defense contractors, and banks along the U.S. border, most institutions are not examining risks specific to the national priorities. 7. If the first exam is in 2025, the 2024 risk assessment will have to look into this. I am not sure that the rule below will be published in the next 11 days and I will most likely owe Lou something nice. Probably something to drink over discussions of the forthcoming chaos. https://lnkd.in/eU5dGTyP

Financial Crimes Enforcement Network, US Treasury published some great graphics to show how law enforcement uses BSA reporting. https://lnkd.in/e9uqz_rH Thank you, FinCEN, as well as the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), IRS Criminal Investigation and Homeland Security Investigations for creating metrics, contributing statistics, and, most importantly, investigating! 👏👏👏 Banks really want to spend their BSA compliance resources on the kind of high-quality reporting that helps LE. It’s fantastic to see nearly 88% of IRS-CI cases had a BSA filing related to a primary subject, and over 11,000 FBI investigation subjects in priority areas had a related SAR. It’s less great to see that fewer than 6,000 subjects of FBI investigations had a related CTR —in the same year FIs filed 20.8 million of them. Let’s prioritize CTR reform that will allow banks to allocate compliance resources in a manner consistent with “effective, risk-based,” reasonably designed risk assessment processes. https://lnkd.in/eb_7fv8g

The Financial Action Task Force (FATF) has announced the United States has been upgraded to “largely compliant” with FATF Recommendation 24, which relates to beneficial ownership transparency for legal persons. The FATF are the global standard-setting body for AML and other financial crime activities. This upgrade in rating is a significant positive for the US authorities who have made concerted efforts to tackle financial crime head on and while there is still work to be done, its a huge step in the right direction. Read more ⬇️ https://lnkd.in/ebhuXFmy #aml #fatf #usa #financialcrime #law

📢 FinCEN Issues Year in Review for Fiscal Year 2023 Financial Crimes Enforcement Network, US Treasury (FinCEN) released its Year in Review for fiscal year 2023! This comprehensive report offers valuable insights into the collection and use of Bank Secrecy Act (BSA) data, highlighting FinCEN's crucial role in supporting law enforcement and national security agencies. 🔍 Key Highlights: ▶ FBI Investigations: In FY23, nearly 15.42% of active FBI investigations were directly linked to Suspicious Activity Reports (SARs) and Currency Transaction Reports (CTRs). Additionally, 13.9% of FY23 IRS Criminal Investigation cases were initiated based on BSA data. ▶ Data Insights: While the report compares the number of FBI subjects with SARs across different case programs to the number of SARs filed, it lacks data on SARs and CTRs that didn’t yield results. Given the 4.6 million SARs and 20.8 million CTRs filed, this statistic is likely significant. ▶ Daily Filings: On average, daily filings included 12,600 SARs and 57,000 CTRs. 😳 This highlights the growing workload for #AMLofficers, #banksecrecyact, #compliance, and #risk professionals. The increase in #consentorders for BSA/AML obligations points to the need for better staffing and resources. Ensuring these teams have the necessary support for staffing, technology evaluation, and compliance is critical for those in the #financialservices sector. 📄 Read the full Year in Review below Stay informed, stay compliant! 🤝 Partner with Eclipse Consulting Group to take a proactive stance against financial crime and safeguard your institution. #FinCEN #YearInReview #BSA #AntiMoneyLaundering #LawEnforcement #NationalSecurity #DataAnalysis

Criminal money: Council and European Parliament reach deal on access to financial information On June 6th, The presidency and the European Parliament reached a provisional agreement on a proposed EU law to speed up and ease the access of national authorities to financial information. Access to financial information is an important instrument in financial investigations and in efforts to trace and confiscate the proceeds of crime.   “In order to comply with a soon to be adopted anti-money laundering directive, EU countries will have to make information from centralised bank account registers available through a single access point. The centralised bank account registers contain data on who has which bank account and where. Thanks to the agreement reached today, not only national financial intelligence units (FIUs), but also national authorities dealing with criminal offences will have access to these registers through this single access point. This will greatly help law enforcement and judicial authorities to fight criminal offences as they currently have to collect this information via the regular cross-border cooperation channels”   Full details can be read here: https://lnkd.in/dBYy28hH #AML #AML/CFT #antimoneylaundering #data #help #money #law #bank #intelligence #lawenforcement

Key highlights and insights captured by our own Linda Kappelmier on FinCEN's Year in Review FY23. See more below. #FinCEN #FinancialCrimes #SARs #AML #BSA