FinCEN

An impasse over pandemic relief checks for Americans is holding up an override of President Trump's veto of a bill shifting beneficial-owner requirements from banks to their commercial clients.

Congress’s passage of a measure requiring startup companies — instead of their banks — to identify true owners was arguably the industry’s biggest legislative achievement in 2020. Now the industry is urging lawmakers to revisit proposals that would ease other anti-money-laundering reporting requirements.

The agency said it may exempt certain institutions from having to file suspicious activity reports if they have “innovative solutions intended to meet Bank Secrecy Act requirements more efficiently and effectively." But in those circumstances, law enforcement may still require SARs.

The defense spending bill includes language requiring businesses to report their owners to Fincen.

Banks are responsible for reporting their business customers' beneficial owners, but a bill that would shift that anti-money-laundering duty to businesses themselves has been added to a must-pass defense spending package.

Big financial institutions are worried that online wagers made with credit cards pose a heavy risk of money laundering. The possibility of tougher rules under the incoming Biden administration has only compounded their concerns.

The two agencies proposed amending the Bank Secrecy Act to lower the threshold for transfers occurring outside the U.S. that trigger recordkeeping requirements.

Better dialogue between banks and authorities coupled with stronger anti-money-laundering measures could help address the suspicious activity report flaws revealed by investigative journalists.

Better dialogue between banks and authorities coupled with stronger anti-money-laundering measures could help address the suspicious activity report flaws revealed by investigative journalists.

U.S. banks and credit unions reported skyrocketing levels of suspected business-loan fraud last month, a period that coincided with growing awareness of scams involving government small-business aid programs.

Financial institutions and authorities could better track money launderers if legalized-marijuana-related businesses were not included in SARs.

Artificial intelligence, machine learning and enhanced data sharing among lenders could go a long way toward spotting suspicious patterns in daily financial activity and bad actors, experts say.

The news media investigation of transactions by nefarious actors puts certain large banks in a negative light, but it also points to inefficient use of suspicious activity reports and other anti-money-laundering issues that the industry has decried for years.

With lawmakers weighing changes to Bank Secrecy Act requirements, the Government Accountability Office urged the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network to establish written policies for expanding use of the agency’s database.

A new investigation by the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists says JPMorgan Chase, Deutsche Bank and several other global institutions kept moving illicit funds after receiving warnings from U.S. officials.

The Financial Crimes Enforcement Network is seeking to create a better-defined standard for effective AML compliance programs and is considering whether to impose formal requirements that banks assess their laundering risk.

Legislation that would force transparency around company ownership would be better than another burdensome anti-money-laundering rule.

The National Defense Authorization Act, approved in a vote late Tuesday, includes measures to require companies to disclose their true owners at the point of incorporation and to improve information-sharing between banks and the government.

The Treasury secretary’s recent Senate testimony coming down on cryptocurrencies is misguided. Regulations should require building better blockchain technology at the banks.

The Treasury secretary’s recent Senate testimony coming down on cryptocurrencies is misguided. Regulations should require building better blockchain technology at the banks.