FinCEN updates FATF-identified jurisdictions with AML/CFT deficiencies

Financial Crimes FinCEN FATF Anti-Money Laundering Of Interest to Non-US Persons

On March 26, the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN) issued an advisory on Financial Action Task Force (FATF)-identified jurisdictions with “strategic deficiencies” in their anti-money laundering and combating the financing of terrorism (AML/CFT) regimes. As previously covered by InfoBytes, in February the FATF updated the list of identified jurisdictions to include Albania, Barbados, Burma, Jamaica, Nicaragua, Mauritius, and Uganda, and removed Trinidad and Tobago from the list.

The FinCEN advisory reminds financial institutions of the February updates and emphasizes that financial institutions should consider both the High-Risk Jurisdictions Subject to a Call for Action and the Jurisdictions under Increased Monitoring documents when reviewing due diligence obligations and risk-based policies, procedures, and practices. Moreover, the advisory includes public statements on the status of, and obligations involving, the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (DPRK) and Iran. The advisory reminds jurisdictions of the actions the United Nations and the U.S. have taken with respect to sanctioning the DPRK and Iran and emphasizes that “[f]inancial institutions must comply with the extensive U.S. restrictions and prohibitions against opening or maintaining any correspondent accounts, directly or indirectly, for North Korean or Iranian financial institutions.”