On June 29, 2020, FinCEN published FIN-2020-G001 providing guidance for obtaining due diligence information for hemp-related businesses. The BSA industry has wrestled with cannabis and its derivative rules since FinCEN’s initial 2014 guidance for banking marijuana-related businesses. Between 2014 and 2018, hemp was equated with marijuana since both are derived from the same plant. However, […]
New Hemp-related Business Guidance Read More »
As we continue to adjust with the evolving pandemic, FinCEN published two documents to keep awareness high. The May 18, 2020 Notice provides a current update to meet the various BSA reporting, recordkeeping and monitoring requirements. Here are a few of the key points: BSA Reporting Requirements – As noted in TCA’s earlier article BSA
FinCEN Guidance on Medical Scams and COVID-19 Read More »
Welcome to TCA’s BSA Back to Basics article series! Each month, our BSA experts will explore a section of the FFIEC BSA/AML Exam Manual, analyze the regulatory requirements, and offer insights to common findings in exams and audits. We will share best practices to help your BSA program continue to evolve. The first section of
Preparing a Bank Secrecy Act Risk Assessment Read More »
Over the past month, every facet of our lives has dramatically changed. Shelter-in-place orders, rotating bank staff, lobby closures, government stimulus programs and a myriad of regulatory updates have stretched risk management resources. TCA has received many questions from clients asking for our interpretation of guidance that has been issued in response to these regulatory
BSA Compliance & COVID-19: FinCEN & SBA Updates Read More »
Despite the collective efforts of law enforcement and BSA risk managers across the country, the United States is not doing the best job of finding effective and efficient ways to combat money laundering. Regulatory and legislative efforts, which are the truly meaningful actions that could be taken, are currently being worked on in Washington. A
Legislative and Regulatory BSA/AML Changes Read More »
On July 22, 2019, the prudential regulators issued FIL-43-2019 making a joint statement on BSA/AML risk-based approaches in examinations. TCA’s BAT reviewed the statement and took away three key points: transparency, risk assessment and independent audit. Transparency – The statement states: “This statement is intended to improve transparency into the risk-focused approach used for planning
Examiners Stress Independent Audit Critical to BSA Success Read More »
When your institution is examined for compliance with any law or regulation, the measure of your efforts will be based on your ability to self-identify and self-correct any deficiencies. Ongoing monitoring of key processes helps to ensure that any errors or warning flags are identified early. Monitoring is a required element of a compliance management
Quality Assurance Monitoring for BSA/AML Compliance Programs Read More »
The regulators are upping their game and are becoming more familiar with Automated Monitoring Systems. They are starting to push the boundaries of a model validation and their expectations for a “complete” model testing review. Some examiners are more advanced than others, but the word is being spread and soon they’ll all catch on! This
Model Validations—Why Do I Need a GAP Analysis? Read More »
Each SAR field is entered into FinCEN’s searchable database, so law enforcement can pull information or run inquires to aid investigations into financial and other illicit crimes. That’s why SARs are crucial. The law enforcement agencies are your audience and they need to know the whole “story” since they were not actively involved in the
Making SAR Narratives Error‐Proof Read More »
FinCEN announced updates to the Suspicious Activity Report (SAR) filing format in a notice to e‐filers. The announcement says that the revisions adhere to the changes listed in FinCEN’s February 2, 2017 Federal Register notice and will be live in June 2018. In these new filings, batch submissions will have to be made in an
FinCEN Finalizes New SAR Read More »
We’re here to review your current compliance strategy and help you find A Better Way to manage risk.
