As has been widely reported, TD Bank last week became “the largest bank in U.S. history” to plead guilty to Bank Secrecy Act (BSA) and anti-money laundering (AML) program failures, according to Merrick B. Garland, U.S. Attorney General. TD Bank N.A. and its parent company TD Bank US Holding Company pleaded guilty to resolve the… Read More >>
Regulators Unravel the Mysteries of Beneficial Ownership
First, we turn to Investopedia for a definition of “beneficial ownership.” “A beneficial owner is a person who enjoys the benefits of ownership even though the title to some form of property is in another name,” according to the Investopedia website. “It also means any individual or group of individuals who, either directly or indirectly,… Read More >>
FinCEN Helps Firms Red Flag Financing for Hamas
The weapons of modern war include tanks, missiles, and jet fighters launched from aircraft carriers far out at sea. Governments can draw on national treasuries to fund the monumental costs of that kind of war in the 21st Century. But where did Hamas, a terrorist organization based in an impoverished refugee camp with few financial… Read More >>
SEC to Broker-Dealers: Tighten Up AML Controls
Do the SEC and the Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) need to tighten up anti-money-laundering (AML) and countering-the-financing-of-terrorism (CFT) requirements? You don’t need to know the lyrics to “Tighten Up,” by Houston’s Archie Bell & the Drells, to puzzle out the answer. It does. The SEC’s Division of Examinations (a.k.a. EXAMS) oversees broker-dealers and… Read More >>
FinCEN Proposes SAR Sharing to Foreign Affiliates
The Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN) has issued a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking that urges the establishment of a limited-duration pilot program for sharing suspicious activity reports (SARs), in accordance with Section 6212 of the Anti-Money Laundering Act of 2020. The FinCEN notice also solicits public comment about the program. Under the pilot program, a… Read More >>
Ransomware Is Hitting Hard in 2021: FinCEN
Sadly, ransomware is hitting its stride in 2021, and is showing no signs of slowing down. While there have been multiple media reports about the rising threat of ransomware, the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN), a bureau of the U.S. Department of the Treasury, recently provided proof that an increase is underway. The report, “Financial… Read More >>
BitMEX Entities Settle with CFTC, FinCEN for $100M
The Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) reports that the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York has filed a consent order against five companies charged with operating the BitMEX cryptocurrency derivatives trading platform. The five companies are HDR Global Trading Ltd., 100x Holding Ltd., ABS Global Trading Ltd., Shine Effort Inc Ltd.,… Read More >>
FinCEN Urges Banks to Share More Crime Info
The director of the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN) at the United States Department of the Treasury wants to make it easier for banks to share information about real and potential financial crimes. Citing a provision of the USA Patriot Act, Director Kenneth A. Blanco has put together a fact sheet and addressed the sharing… Read More >>
FinCEN Moves to Overhaul AML Practices
Changes are coming to banks’ the anti-money laundering practices and procedures. The U.S. Treasury’s Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN) has unveiled an early look at those proposed prospective changes in its Advance Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (ANPRM), soliciting public comment on pending regulatory amendments under the Bank Secrecy Act (BSA). The FinCEN’s proposal is likely… Read More >>
FinCEN Refocuses on Virtual Currencies
Without much fanfare, the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN), a bureau of the Treasury Department, issued a guidance on convertible virtual currencies (CVC) such as Bitcoin to help “financial institutions, law enforcement, and regulators” get a grip on the “multiple variations of businesses dealing in CVCs.” The guidance is a reminder to firms of their… Read More >>
