Updating the requirements for anti-money laundering/countering the financing of terrorism rule (AML/CFT) compliance at banks and credit unions to match those proposed by law enforcement were proposed by their respective regulators Friday in a joint announcement.
The federal banking regulators, and the National Credit Union Administration (NCUA), said they were proposing a rule to update their requirements for supervised institutions to establish, implement, and maintain effective, risk-based, and reasonably designed AML/CFT programs.
According to the agencies, the proposal is intended to align with changes concurrently proposed by the U.S. Department of the Treasury’s Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN), most of which result from the Anti-Money Laundering Act of 2020 (AML Act).
Comments are due in 60 days, the agencies said.
The four agencies said the proposal would require banks and credit unions to identify, evaluate, and document their money laundering, terrorist financing, and other illicit finance activity risks, as well as consider FinCEN’s published national AML/CFT priorities.
“Additionally, and consistent with the AML Act, the proposal would mandate that the duty to establish, maintain, and enforce the AML/CFT program remain the responsibility of, and be performed by, persons in the United States who are accessible to, and subject to the oversight and supervision by, the relevant agency,” the agencies said in their joint release. “The proposal also supports institutions’ consideration of innovative approaches to meet compliance obligations,” it added.