Navigating Proposed AML/CFT Rule Changes: New Supervision and Enforcement Frameworks

This CLE course will examine the U.S. Department of the Treasury's Financial Crimes Enforcement Network's (FinCEN) recently proposed rules aimed at reforming anti-money laundering and countering the financing of terrorism (AML/CFT) program requirements for financial institutions under the Bank Secrecy Act (BSA). The faculty will highlight key concepts, definitions, and standards of the proposed rules; how supervision and enforcement actions will be impacted in practice; industry efforts to meaningfully engage in the rulemaking commentary; and how institutions can assess and strengthen AML/CFT programs now, before the rules are enacted.

FinCEN and the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC), the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC), and the National Credit Union Administration (NCUA) issued coordinated proposed rulemaking revising AML and CFT compliance requirements to reflect changes enacted under the Anti-Money Laundering Act of 2020 (the AML Act). The proposed rules supersede the 2024 proposed revisions and introduce a new FinCEN consultative framework for financial institutions. The proposed rules apply broadly to institutions subject to the BSA, including banks, broker-dealers, mutual funds, insurance companies, money service businesses, and other covered entities. On the surface, the proposals appear to raise the bar for AML/CFT supervisory and enforcement actions, but questions remain. 

Implementing provisions of the AML Act, these proposed changes are framed as a modernization of the AML framework, mandating risk-based assessments, emphasizing the identification of institution-specific risk exposed by these assessments, and whether financial institutions have effective AML/CFT programs. How examiners apply these standards in practice will largely determine the overall impact of the proposed changes on institutions' AML/CFT compliance burdens.

Listen as our authoritative panel of experts summarizes key aspects of the proposed rule changes, likely industry commentary, how the rules will be implemented at the examiner level, and evaluation measures and process changes institutions can take now to prepare for these rules—if and when adopted.