On 12/16/21, FinCEN and the OCC announced on separate issuances that they assessed a total of $8 million civil money penalty on CommunityBank of Texas, N.A. (CBOT) for willful violations of the Bank Secrecy Act (BSA) and its implementing regulations. As a result of its own investigation, the OCC assessed a civil penalty of $1 million for related violations while FinCEN agreed with CBOT to a settlement of $7 million.

On 12/14/21, FinCEN issued a request for information (RFI) seeking comments on ways to streamline, modernize, and update the anti-money laundering and countering the financing of terrorism (AML/CFT) regime of the United States. The agency is particularly interested in ways to modernize risk-based AML/CFT regulations and guidance so that they can continue to protect U.S. national security in a cost-effective and efficient manner.

On 12/7/21, the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN) issued a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (NPRM) to implement the beneficial ownership information reporting provisions of the Corporate Transparency Act (CTA). FinCEN explains that the proposed rule is designed to protect the U.S. financial system from illicit use and prevent malign actors from abusing legal entities, like shell companies, to conceal proceeds of corrupt and criminal acts.

On 12/06/21, the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN) issued an Advance Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (ANPRM) to solicit public comment on a potential rule to address the vulnerability of the U.S. real estate market to money laundering and other illicit activity. According to the release, this ANPRM is important as the systemic money laundering vulnerabilities presented by the U.S. real estate sector threatens U.S. national security and the integrity of the U.S. financial system.

On 12/1/21, the Federal Financial Institutions Examination Council (FFIEC) released their fourth update of their BSA/AML Examination Manual. This release, which is the fourth update in the last two years, added one new section and updated three existing sections of the Bank Secrecy Act/Anti-Money Laundering (BSA/AML) Examination Manual.

On 11/18/21, the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN) issued a Notice to call attention to an upward trend in environmental crimes and associated illicit financial activity. In the Notice, FinCEN explained that it is highlighting this trend because of: (1) its strong association with corruption and transnational criminal organizations, (2) a need to enhance reporting and analysis of related illicit financial flows; and (3) environmental crimes’ contribution to the climate crisis, including threatening ecosystems, decreasing biodiversity, and increasing carbon dioxide in the atmosphere. FinCEN’s Notice provides financial institutions with specific suspicious activity report (SAR) filing instructions and highlights the likelihood of illicit financial activity related to several types of environmental crimes.

In mid-November of 2021, the CFPB released a “data spotlight” on suspicious activity reports on elder financial exploitation. The publication highlights trends relating to SARs filed by financial institutions that relate to elder financial exploitation. In general, the analysis primarily relies on public data for EFE SARs filed between January 2014 and December 2020, available through SAR Stats .

On 11/16/21, FinCEN held a virtual FinCEN Exchange focused on identifying and combatting illicit financial flows associated with environmental crimes and related money laundering. Representatives from financial institutions, law enforcement, and Federal government agencies attended the session.