FinCEN issued its policy priorities for anti-money laundering (AML) and countering the financing of terrorism (CFT), as required by the Anti-Money Laundering Act of 2020.
The most significant AML/CFT threats currently facing the United States are, in no particular order:
• Corruption;
• Cybercrime;
• Foreign and domestic terrorist financing;
• Fraud;
• Transnational criminal organization activity;
• Drug trafficking organization activity;
• Human trafficking and human smuggling; and
• Proliferation financing.
The priorities “reflect longstanding and continuing AML/CFT concerns previously identified by FinCEN and [other federal agencies]” — i.e., these priorities do not reveal the existence of a new threat. Indeed, much of the report cites to advisories and reports previously issued by FinCEN and other government agencies describing these threats.
Simultaneous with the release of the priorities, FinCEN and the federal banking agencies issued an interagency statement that said that publication of the priorities “does not create an immediate change to Bank Secrecy Act (BSA) requirements or supervisory expectations for banks.” While banks are encouraged to review the priorities and become familiar with the risks, banks should not take any further action until the banking agencies issue actual regulatory guidance for how to handle the priorities.
In 2021, the agencies stated FinCEN will promulgate regulations within the next six months to address how the priorities will be incorporated into banks’ BSA risk assessments. The federal banking agencies revised their BSA regulations to provide guidance for banks on how to incorporate these priorities into their procedures. In the statement, the agencies added that banks are not required to incorporate the priorities into their risk-based BSA compliance programs until the effective date of the revised regulations, and the federal banking agencies will not examine banks for the incorporation of the priorities into banks’ BSA programs until that date.