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FinCEN Settles with Card Club Gaming Establishment for BSA Violations
On December 17, FinCEN announced a $650,000 settlement with a “card club” gaming establishment in California for willfully violating the program and reporting requirements of the Bank Secrecy Act (BSA). The gaming establishment allegedly trained its staff using misleading and inaccurate AML policy, which either failed to provide instructions at all, or provided incorrect instructions regarding the establishment’s obligations and reporting requirements under the BSA. As an example, the establishment “encouraged employees to provide notice to patrons if they were about to conduct a cash transaction that would put them over the $10,000 threshold for the filing of a Currency Transaction Report, thereby possibly encouraging structured transactions.” In addition, since the establishment’s policy did not contain instructions regarding when an employee should file a Suspicious Activity Report (“SAR”), it failed to file SARs in 2009 and 2010. Card clubs are gaming facilities that generally host only games involving cards; like casinos, card clubs are defined as financial institutions under the BSA, rendering them subject to FinCEN’s rules and regulatory authority.
FinCEN Announces MOU with China Anti-Money Laundering Monitoring and Analysis Center
On December 11, FinCEN announced that Director Jennifer Shasky Calvery and the China Anti-Money Laundering Monitoring and Analysis Center (CAMLMAC) Director-General Luo Yang of the People’s Republic of China signed an MOU “to create a framework to facilitate expanded U.S.-China collaboration, communication, and cooperation between both nations’ financial intelligence units.” As the financial intelligence unit (FIU) for the United States, FinCEN is responsible for combating money laundering and the financing of terrorism by collecting, analyzing, and disseminating financial intelligence to law enforcement and other relevant authorities; as the Chinese counterpart to FinCEN, the CAMLMAC has comparable responsibilities to the Chinese government. The recently announced MOU is intended to provide a “mechanism for sharing information on money laundering and the financing of terrorism in order to prevent illicit actors from abusing either country’s financial systems.”
New York DFS Announces Enforcement Action Against Pakistan-Based Bank's New York Branch
On December 17, the New York DFS announced an enforcement action against a New York branch of a Pakistan-based bank. The Federal Reserve Bank of New York (FRBNY) and the DFS recently conducted an examination of the branch and found significant risk management and compliance failures with regard to state and federal laws, rules, and regulations relating to anti-money laundering (AML) compliance. Under the terms of the DFS’s order, the branch agreed to reform its policies and procedures to ensure compliance with AML laws. Per the order, the bank must submit to the DFS, within 60 days of the order, a number of written programs regarding its (i) corporate governance and management oversight; (ii) BSA/AML compliance review; (iii) customer due diligence; and (iv) suspicious activity monitoring and reporting. The branch must also hire an independent third-party approved by the DFS and the FRBNY to review the effectiveness of the bank’s compliance program, and to prepare a written report of its findings, conclusions, and recommendations for the program. Because the branch’s compliance with OFAC regulations was insufficient, the order also mandates that the bank retain an independent third-party to examine its U.S. dollar-clearing transactions between October 2014 and March 2015. Significantly, the order does not require the branch to pay a civil money penalty.
OFAC Authorizes Certain Transactions and Activities to Liquidate Honduras-Based Bank, Replaces Previously Issued General License
On December 8, OFAC announced that it issued a revised General License replacing a previously issued license to a Honduras-based bank, which OFAC designated as a Specially Designated Narcotics Trafficker. The General License authorizes certain transactions and activities to assist with the liquidation and winding down of the bank. The revised General License permits liquidation-related transactions and activities that are otherwise prohibited by the Foreign Narcotics Kingpin Sanctions Regulations through 12:01 a.m. on June 12, 2016, with the following exceptions: (i) the unblocking of any blocked property pursuant the Foreign Narcotics Kingpin Sanctions Regulations; or (ii) transactions or dealings that are limited by Executive Order or are with another individual or entity on OFAC’s List of Specially Designated Nationals or Blocked Persons. U.S. persons involved in the bank’s liquidation process must file a report with OFAC’s Licensing Division to include the parties involved, and the type, scope, and dates of the activities conducted.
FinCEN Director Highlights the Significance of SAR Filings
On December 9, FinCEN Director Calvery highlighted at a joint FBIIC-FSSCC meeting the role of FinCEN in gathering and analyzing financial intelligence and the value of Suspicious Activity Reports (SARs) in curtailing malicious cyber activity. Calvery noted the importance of attribution information, such as IP addresses, timestamps, e-mail addresses, and the nature of the suspicious activity, when included in SAR filings, in helping FinCEN and law enforcement agencies deflect cyber-attacks, detect the source of such attacks, and identify members of money laundering networks. “For example, SARs filed by several different financial institutions played a vital role in furthering an investigation where a regional Florida bank had nearly $7 million fraudulently wired out of one of its accounts,” Calvery explained. Calvery emphasized the importance of including cyber-derived information (such as IP addresses and bitcoin wallet addresses) in SAR filings, noting that while less than two percent of filed SARs contain IP addresses, the information is “incredibly important to FinCEN analysts and law enforcement investigators working to combat cyber-crimes.”
FinCEN Appoints Andrea Sharrin as Policy Division Associate Director, Replaces Jamal El-Hindi
On December 7, FinCEN announced the selection of Andrea Sharrin as Associate Director for its Policy Division, the division responsible for drafting BSA rules as well as addressing strategic policy issues surrounding anti-money laundering and countering terrorist financing. Sharrin currently serves as the Director of the Office of Compliance and Enforcement in FinCEN’s Enforcement Division with responsibility for FinCEN's BSA compliance and enforcement program. In her new role, Sharrin will lead the team that “defines the framework for protecting the U.S. financial system from money laundering, terrorist financing, and other illicit finance,” and will oversee FinCEN’s regulatory functions, which include drafting guidance and issuing regulatory rulings related to BSA. Sharrin replaces Jamal El-Hindi who was named FinCEN’s Deputy Director earlier this year.
New York DFS Proposes Anti-Terrorism and Anti-Money Laundering Regulation
On December 1, the New York DFS announced a proposed anti-terrorism and anti-money laundering regulation, Transaction Monitoring and Filtering Program Requirements and Certifications. Key requirements of the proposed regulation include maintaining programs (i) to monitor transactions after they’ve been executed for potential BSA/AML violations and Suspicious Activity Reporting; and (ii) to ban certain transactions that are prohibited by applicable sanctions, politically exposed persons lists, and internal watch lists. The proposed regulation outlines the programs’ respective minimum requirements, including ensuring that they are based on the Risk Assessment of the institution. Critically, the proposal also requires a Certifying Senior Officer of the regulated financial institutions to file with the Department executed certifications ensuring compliance with the requirements by April 15 of each year.
FinCEN Re-opens Comment Period for Final Rule Imposing Fifth Special Measure against FBME Bank Ltd.
On November 27, FinCEN published in the Federal Register a Notice to re-open the comment period for its previously issued Final Rule imposing the fifth special measure against FBME Bank Ltd. (FBME). On August 27, the day before the Rule was scheduled to take effect, the United States Court for the District of Columbia Court granted FBME’s motion for a preliminary injunction and enjoined the Final Rule from taking effect. On November 6, the Court granted the Government’s motion for voluntary remand to allow for further rulemaking proceedings. FinCEN’s most recent Federal Register Notice to re-open the comment period for the Final Rule solicits additional comments “particularly with respect to the unclassified, non-protected documents that support the rulemaking and whether any alternatives to the prohibition of the opening or maintaining of correspondent accounts with FBME would effectively mitigate the risk to domestic financial institutions.” Comments are due by January 26, 2016.
U.S. Department of the Treasury Senior Staff Deliver Remarks Regarding Enforcement Efforts
On November 16, FinCEN Director Jennifer Calvery and Treasury’s Acting Under Secretary Adam Szubin delivered remarks at the American Bankers Association and American Bar Association Money Laundering Enforcement Conference on continued AML enforcement efforts. Szubin focused on the topic of “de-risking,” which he described as “instances in which a financial institution seeks to avoid perceived regulatory risk by indiscriminately terminating, restricting, or denying services to broad classes of clients, without case-by-case analysis or consideration of mitigating options,” and addressed Treasury’s efforts to curtail the negative effects attributed to de-risking, such as preventing access to the dollar and pushing people out of the regulated financial system. Szubin emphasized, however, that the Treasury would not “dilute or roll back [its] AML/CFT standards,” but expects financial institutions to be vigilant when identifying potential risks and to implement AML/CFT programs that effectively address risks associated with illicit financing on a client-by-client basis. In a separate speech, Director Calvery addressed FinCEN’s reliance on Bank Secrecy Act (BSA) data to “uncover risks, vulnerabilities, and gaps in each financial sector,” noting that BSA data supports FinCEN’s ongoing AML enforcement efforts.
Federal Reserve and New York DFS Take Action Against Canadian Bank for Deficiencies Relating to AML Compliance
On November 10, the Federal Reserve and the New York DFS announced an enforcement action against a Canadian bank for alleged deficiencies relating to its BSA/AML compliance program. In order to resolve the allegations, the bank agreed to prepare various written policies and procedures, including (i) a written plan that provides for a sustainable governance framework, including improving the management information systems reporting of compliance with BSA/AML requirements, OFAC regulations, and State Regulations; (ii) a revised written BSA/AML compliance program; (iii) a revised written program for conducting customer due diligence; (iv) a written program that ensures that any suspicious activity is timely reported; and (v) a written plan to improve compliance with OFAC regulations. All policies must be submitted for approval within 60 days of the agreement’s issuance date.