All in BSA

On July 3, 2024, FinCEN issued a press release to inform U.S. financial institutions that the Financial Action Task Force (FATF), an intergovernmental body that establishes international standards to combat money laundering, counter the financing of terrorism, and combat weapons of mass destruction proliferation financing (AML/CFT/CPF), has issued public statements updating its lists of jurisdictions with strategic AML/CFT/CPF deficiencies following its plenary meeting last month. U.S. financial institutions should consider the FATF’s stance toward these jurisdictions when reviewing their obligations and risk-based policies, procedures, and practices.

On June 26, 2024, FinCEN issued a final rule under the USA PATRIOT Act Section 311 that severs Al-Huda Bank from the United States financial system by prohibiting domestic financial institutions and agencies from opening or maintaining a correspondent account for or on behalf of Al-Huda Bank, an Iraqi bank that serves as a conduit for terrorist financing. Al-Huda Bank is a foreign financial institution based in Iraq found to be of primary money laundering concern.

On May 20, 2024, FinCEN announced a new initiative to combat the illicit trafficking of fentanyl into the United States as part of the Treasury Department’s Counter-Fentanyl Strike Force and in partnership with IRS Criminal Investigation (CI). The new FinCEN Exchange series, titled “Promoting Regional Outreach to Educate Communities on the Threat of Fentanyl” (or PROTECT), will be held through the remainder of 2024 in U.S. cities that are highly impacted by the opioid epidemic.