Issued June 30, 2021
3-1879
The Anti-Money Laundering Act of 2020 (AML Act)
1 requires the Secretary of the Treasury, in consultation with
the Attorney General, federal functional regulators,
2 relevant state financial regulators,
and relevant national security agencies, to establish and make public
priorities for anti-money laundering and countering the financing
of terrorism policy (AML/CFT priorities).
3 Accordingly, the
U.S. Department of the Treasury’s Financial Crimes Enforcement Network
(FinCEN) published the first national AML/CFT priorities today in
consultation with the parties as set out in the AML Act. As a result
of this publication, the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve
System, the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation, the National Credit
Union Administration, and the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency
(collectively, the “federal banking agencies” or FBAs), state bank
and credit union regulators,
4 and FinCEN are issuing this statement to provide clarity for banks
5 on these AML/CFT priorities.
Today’s publication of the AML/CFT priorities does not
create an immediate change to Bank Secrecy Act (BSA) requirements
or supervisory expectations for banks. The AML Act requires that,
within 180 days of the establishment of the AML/CFT priorities, FinCEN
(in consultation with federal functional regulators and relevant state
financial regulators) shall, as appropriate, promulgate regulations
regarding the AML/CFT priorities.
6 Although not required
by the AML Act, the FBAs plan to revise their BSA regulations, as
necessary, to address how the AML/CFT priorities will be incorporated
into banks’ BSA requirements.
Banks are not required to incorporate the AML/CFT priorities
into their risk-based BSA compliance programs until the effective
date of the final revised regulations. Nevertheless, in preparation
for any new requirements when those final rules are published, banks
may wish to start considering how they will incorporate the AML/CFT
priorities into their risk-based BSA compliance programs, such as
by assessing the potential related risks associated with the products
and services they offer, the customers they serve, and the geographic
areas in which they operate.
Finally, the AML Act requires that the review by a bank
of the AML/CFT priorities and the incorporation of those priorities,
as appropriate, into its risk-based BSA compliance program, be included
as a measure on which a bank is supervised and examined.
7 This interagency
statement confirms that state bank and credit union regulator and
FBA examiners will not examine banks for the incorporation of the
AML/CFT priorities into their risk-based BSA programs until the effective
date of final revised regulations.
The FBAs, state bank and credit union regulators, and
FinCEN recognize the need to provide revised regulations and timely guidance
to assist banks in complying with the BSA. In addition, the FBAs and
state bank and credit union regulators are committed to working with
FinCEN to develop any necessary corresponding guidance and examination
procedures for examiners.
Interagency statement
of June 30, 2021 (SR-21-10).
