FinCEN published a proposed rule to reform anti-money laundering and countering the financing of terrorism program requirements for financial institutions under the Bank Secrecy Act.
Continue Reading FinCEN Proposes Reforms to AML/CFT Program Requirements
On July 21, 2025, the U.S. Department of the Treasury’s Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN) issued a press release announcing that it will extend the effective date of the final rule establishing anti-money laundering/countering the financing of terrorism program and suspicious activity report filing requirements for certain investment advisers and exempt reporting advisers (IA AML Rule), from Jan. 1, 2026, to Jan. 1, 2028.
On Dec. 13, 2022, the Department of Justice announced that Danish global financial institution Danske A/S (Danske Bank) pled guilty and agreed to forfeit $2 billion to resolve an investigation into fraudulent representations it made to U.S. banks about its anti-money laundering (AML) controls in Estonia. As part of a parallel proceeding, the SEC also
On Sept. 29, 2022, the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA) released Regulatory Notice 22-20, alerting members to changes to the Sanctions Guidelines (Guidelines), effective immediately. The notice discusses changes varying from new fine ranges/minimums, additional guidelines, and non-monetary sanctions.
On July 14, 2022, the U.S. House of Representatives passed bipartisan legislation that, if passed by the Senate and signed into law, would expand the types of institutions required to comply with AML requirements under the Bank Secrecy Act (BSA). The Establishing New Authorities for Business Laundering and Enabling Risks to Security (ENABLERS) Act could
On June 30, 2021, the U.S. Department of the Treasury’s Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN), in consultation with the U.S. attorney general, federal functional regulators, relevant state financial regulators, and relevant national security agencies, announced new federal anti-money laundering and counter–terrorism financing (AML/CFT) priorities, in accordance with the Anti-Money Laundering Act of 2020 (AML Act).
The Division of Examinations (the Division) (formerly known as the Office of Compliance Inspections and Examinations, or OCIE) of the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) released its annual list of 2021 Examination Priorities on March 3, 2021.
Many of the Division’s 2021 examination priorities, including focus on conflicts of interest for brokers and
On Jan. 14, 2020, the Financial Services Agency of Japan published draft amendments of enforcement orders, cabinet office ordinances and guidelines concerning the recently amended and enacted crypto asset laws. The amended laws enhance the regulations on transactions related to crypto assets, such as cryptocurrency trades and administration, crypto derivatives, and security token offerings.
The
On Oct. 22, 2019, the U.S. House of Representatives, in a 249 to 173 vote, passed H.R. 2513, known as the “Corporate Transparency Act of 2019.” The Corporate Transparency Act, if enacted into law, would require each person who creates a corporation or limited liability company in the United States to report, on
On July 22, 2019, the federal bank regulatory agencies and the U.S. Department of the Treasury’s Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (collectively, the “Agencies”), issued a Joint Statement on Risk-Focused Bank Secrecy Act/Anti-Money Laundering (BSA/AML) Supervision. The Joint Statement emphasizes their risk-focused approach to examinations of banks’ BSA/AML compliance programs and is the third statement