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FinCEN warns financial institutions about Russian sanctions evasion
On March 7, FinCEN issued an alert advising financial institutions to be vigilant against potential attempts to evade sanctions levied against Russian individuals, banks, and other entities in response to the situation in Ukraine. FinCEN provided several examples of red flag indicators that could help identify attempted sanctions evasions, including actions by state actors and oligarchs, and reminded financial institutions of their Bank Secrecy Act (BSA) reporting obligations.
The alert stressed that all financial institutions, including those with visibility into convertible virtual currency (CVC) flows identify and promptly report associated suspicious activity, and conduct appropriate, risk-based customer due diligence or enhanced due diligence as required. This includes CVC exchangers and administrators within or outside of Russia (which are generally considered to be money services businesses under the BSA) that retain at least some access to the international financial system. FinCEN noted that “[w]hile large scale sanctions evasion using [CVC] by a government such as the Russian Federation is not necessarily practicable, CVC exchangers and administrators and other financial institutions may observe attempted or completed transactions tied to CVC wallets or other CVC activity associated with sanctioned Russian, Belarusian, and other affiliated persons.”
Financial institutions are instructed to specifically watch for (i) transactions initiated from IP addresses located in Russia, Belarus, FATF-identified jurisdictions with anti-money laundering/countering the financing of terrorism/counter-proliferation deficiencies, or other sanctioned jurisdictions; (ii) transactions connected to CVC addresses listed on OFAC’s Specially Designated Nationals and Blocked Persons List; and (iii) customers’ use of a CVC exchanger or foreign-located money service businesses in high-risk jurisdictions, including those with inadequate “know-your-customer” or customer due diligence measures. FinCEN also warned financial institutions of the dangers posed by Russian-related ransomware campaigns and encouraged financial institutions to refer to FinCEN and OFAC resources to help detect, prevent, and report potential suspicious activity.
Find continuing InfoBytes coverage on the U.S. sanctions response to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine here.
FinCEN director discusses CVC compliance requirements
On November 15, Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN) Director Kenneth Blanco delivered remarks at the Chainalysis Blockchain Symposium to discuss, among other things, the agency’s focus on convertible virtual currency (CVC) and remind attendees—particularly financial institutions—of their compliance obligations. Specifically, Blanco emphasized that FinCEN applies a “technology-neutral regulatory framework to any activity that provides the same functionality at the same level of risk, regardless of its label.” As such, money transmissions denominated in CVC, Blanco stated, are money transmissions. Blanco discussed guidance issued by FinCEN in May (previously covered by InfoBytes here) that reminded persons subject to the Bank Secrecy Act (BSA) how FinCEN regulations relating to money services businesses apply to certain business models involving money transmissions denominated in CVC. Blanco also highlighted the agency’s recent collaboration with the CFTC and the SEC to issue joint guidance on digital asset compliance obligations. (Previous InfoBytes coverage here.) Highlights of Blanco’s remarks include (i) suspicious activity reporting related to CVC has increased, including “filings from exchanges identifying potential unregistered, foreign-located money services businesses”; (ii) compliance with the “Funds Travel Rule” is mandatory and applies to CVC; (iii) for anti-money laundering/combating the funding of terrorism purposes, accepting and transmitting activity denominated in stablecoins falls within FinCEN's definition of “money transmission services” under the BSA; and (iv) administrators of stablecoins must register as money services businesses with FinCEN.