FinCEN – Consumer Financial Services Watch

FinCEN Looks to Financial Institutions to File SARs Regarding Cyber-Events

Nov 07 2016

By Mark A. Rush, Stanley V. Ragalevsky, Rebecca H. Laird, and Samuel P. Reger

On October 25, 2016, the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (“FinCEN”) issued an advisory (the “Advisory”) explaining the obligations a “financial institution” might have under the Bank Secrecy Act (“BSA”) regarding “cyber-events and cyber-enabled crime.” The Advisory states that even if an actual financial transaction did not take place as result of a cyber-event, a financial institution may still be required to file a Suspicious Activity Report (“SAR”) in certain circumstances. Because of this, a covered financial institution should reconsider its obligations under the BSA after a cyber-event.

To read the full alert, click here.

FinCEN Acknowledges the Problem, But a Solution Will Require More

Nov 12 2014

By: David L. Beam

Money services businesses (“MSBs”) have been losing access to banking services. Increased scrutiny by bank regulators of MSB relationships have led banks to conclude that providing services to MSBs carries increased compliance and reputational risk. Even if these risks can be managed in theory through appropriate due diligence and controls, many banks have decided that costs and risks of offering banking services to MSBs outweigh the revenue that they generate. Read More

FinCEN Extends Anti-Money Laundering Program and Suspicious Activity Reporting Requirements to Non-Bank Residential Mortgage Lenders and Originators

Feb 29 2012

By: András P. Teleki, Kathryn S. Williams

Residential mortgage lenders and originators (RMLOs — known as “mortgage companies” and “mortgage brokers” but not individual loan originators) now are subject to the Bank Secrecy Act’s (BSA) anti-money laundering regime pursuant to a long expected new regulation published in the Federal Register on February 14, 2012 by FinCEN, a part of Treasury that implements the U.S.’s anti-money laundering regime. Under the new rules, RMLOs are required to develop and implement an anti-money laundering program (AML Program) and begin suspicious activity reporting (SAR Filings) by August 13, 2012. Read More

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