Reported by U.S. Department of the Treasury

(Excerpt shared below. To read entire remarks, go to: https://home.treasury.gov/news/press-releases/sb0276)

I am also optimistic about AML/CFT reform.  In my meetings with community bankers, they list CTR filings, structuring SARs, and process-focused examinations among their top concerns.

Today, FinCEN released FAQs to address pain points on some of these issues, including triggers for structuring SARs, continuing activity reviews, and the absence of any requirement to document a decision not to file a SAR.  These are commonsense yet consequential reforms that will ease regulatory burdens without undermining law enforcement efforts. 

As part of our broader campaign to modernize illicit finance regulation, FinCEN and the bank regulators are hard at work on a new rule to define the requirements for an effective AML/CFT program.  My expectation is that a proposal will re-center supervision where it should be: on the effectiveness of a bank’s AML/CFT program.  I likewise expect that that proposal will position FinCEN as a gatekeeper for AML/CFT enforcement. 

This will be a significant departure from the past, with its zero-tolerance focus on process and documentation and wide latitude for supervisory expectations and judgments that are not always consistent with the law or our national security priorities.  A focus on higher value activities will also better serve our law enforcement and national security objectives.