FinCEN issues Spanish language version of its advisory on politically exposed persons and their financial facilitators

Financial Crimes FinCEN CDD Rule Anti-Money Laundering SARs

On September 11, the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN) released a Spanish version of its advisory for U.S. financial institutions to increase awareness of the connection between high-level political corruption and human rights abuses. As previously covered in InfoBytes, FinCEN issued regulatory guidance in June to remind financial institutions of their risk-based, due diligence obligations, which include (i) identifying legal entities owned or controlled by “politically exposed persons” (as required by FinCEN’s Customer Due Diligence Rule); (ii) complying with anti-money laundering program obligations; and (iii) filing Suspicious Activity Reports related to illegal activity undertaken by senior foreign political figures.