FinCEN

The Treasury's Financial Crimes Enforcement Network and federal banking and credit union agencies limited issuers' know-your-customer obligations to direct-to-consumer services, preliminarily rejecting a "global" customer due diligence requirement they say is unfeasible. 

The clarification spells out what banks can share to stop scams. The Bank Policy Institute welcomed it but wants Congress to write the protection into law.

Regulators are not requiring banks to verify customer citizenship under a May executive order, which is a relief for banks. But how a new Fincen-led guidance will shift compliance expectations remains unclear, especially for smaller banks.

The joint advisory by the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network, banking agencies and the Internal Revenue Service issued guidance for banks to detect unauthorized employment schemes as part of the administration's broader immigration crackdown. 

A proposal from the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. would require the agency to notify Treasury's Financial Crimes Enforcement Network 30 days prior to major anti-money laundering actions against stablecoin issuers. The rule would also allow issuers to directly share normally confidential information with Fincen during the enforcement process.

Fincen just proposed the most significant reform to AML compliance in a generation, but its reporting forms are still broken. A handful of key changes would meaningfully reduce compliance burden without reducing investigative value.

The Treasury Department Wednesday proposed a set of rules that would require stablecoin issuers to abide by risk-based anti-money-laundering programs similar to those that banks must employ, as well as secondary market monitoring and independent testing by issuers. 

The Treasury's financial crimes enforcement wing proposed a rule Monday that would incentivize whistleblowers to come forth with information that could assist in cracking down on scams, fraud or money laundering, at a time of heightened geopolitical risk.

The Financial Crimes Enforcement Network is charged with protecting the U.S. financial system, but its failure to implement a whistleblower program authorized in 2022 leaves the agency unable to capitalize on a key source of intelligence.

As geopolitical threats loom, the U.S. needs a better-coordinated AML strategy. The Treasury Department's Financial Crimes Enforcement Network should take the lead in implementing needed reforms.

Financial fraud in the U.S. has become so sophisticated that it now has its own internal economy, complete with supply chains and customer service. Banks need to wake up to the reality that the landscape has changed.

As the Trump administration signals interest in reforming AML regulations, the industry must come together in support of new rules that promote efficiency and effectiveness in the fight against financial crime.

While overall payments declined, the financial sector remained the top payer to cybercriminals, surpassing both health care and manufacturing.

Coordinated sanctions target two networks behind so-called pig butchering scams, human trafficking and money laundering for North Korean cybercrime groups.

The Treasury Department's Financial Crimes Enforcement Network is seeking public comment on a survey of anti-money-laundering compliance costs from a variety of nonbanks, including casinos, insurers, lenders and other nonbanks, a possible precursor to deregulatory proposals down the road.

The Treasury Department proposed a rule delaying investment adviser AML requirements to 2028 and sought public comment on implementing regulations for a stablecoin bill passed earlier this summer.

Predators often target boys ages 14 to 17, demanding money or using deepfakes to extort them.

Art collectors — and criminals — can anonymously spend millions on art in the U.S. A newly introduced bill could change that.

The Treasury's financial crime agency delayed enforcement of a variety of Bank Secrecy Act requirements for investment advisors in order to gain time to revise and tailor regulations.