All in BSA

Conducting BSA Board Training

Conducting BSA Board Training

Adam Witmer
BSA

This Compliance Clip (video) provides a number of practical tips on how to execute a good BSA training session for your Board of Directors. Adam provides three main things that could be included in Board training and explains several best practices for ensuring an effective training session. The video concludes by discussing a valuable resource that may assist some BSA Officers in training their Board.

Joint Statement on OFAC Cyber-Related Sanction Risks

Adam Witmer
BSA

On November 5, 2018, the FFIEC released a joint statement to alert financial institutions to recent actions taken by the Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC).  These actions were taken under OFAC’s Cyber-Related Sanctions Program and have potential impact on financial institution’s operations, including the use of services of a sanctioned entity.

CIP Requirements for Banks and Credit Unions

Adam Witmer
BSA

One of the most challenging parts of any financial institution’s Bank Secrecy Act (BSA) program is to have an effective Customer Identification Program (CIP) that forms a reasonable belief that the institution knows the true identity of the person they are opening account for.  Understanding CIP requirements is essential as an insufficient CIP program can lead to significant consequences such as regulator enforcement actions and civil money penalties (fines). This article discusses some of the general CIP requirements for Banks and Credit Unions.

Interagency Statement on Sharing of BSA/AML Resources Among Financial Insittutions

Adam Witmer
Regulatory Update, BSA, Compliance Management

On October 3, 2018, the main federal regulators, along with FinCEN, released a statement regarding instances in which banks and credit unions may decide to enter into collaborative arrangements to share resources to manage their Bank Secrecy Act (BSA) and anti-money laundering (AML) obligations more efficiently and effectively.  While this guidance may not be beneficial for a majority of financial institutions, this may be beneficial for very small institutions with a low-risk profile and less-complex structures, or those institutions who are owned by the same organization.

Agencies Grant CIP Exemption for Insurance premium Finance Loans

Adam Witmer
BSA, Regulatory Update

On September 28, 2018, FinCEN, the OCC, Federal Reserve, FDIC, and NCUA released joint guidance which grants financial institutions an exemption from CIP requirements for loans extended to customers to facilitate purchases of property and casualty insurance policies.  The justification for this exemption is based on the fact that these types of loans present a low risk of money laundering due to their very specific purpose. Those entities that extend loans to customers for such purposes should…

FinCEN Advisory on High-Risk Customers

Adam Witmer
Regulatory Update, BSA

On September 21, 2018, FinCEN released an advisory on the FATF-identified jurisdictions with AML/CFT deficiencies.   This advisory, known as FIN-2018-A004, relays information to US financial institutions regarding countries the Financial Action Task Force (FATF) has identified as having deficiencies.  FATF is an intergovernmental body comprised of…

NCUA Guidance Regarding CDD & UBO Compliance

Adam Witmer
Regulatory Update, BSA

In August of 2018, the NCUA issued a letter to Credit Union CEOs and Boards of Directors regarding examination guidance for Bank Secrecy Act (BSA) customer due diligence(CDD) and ultimate beneficial ownership (UBO) compliance.  The letter (18-CU-02) explained to credit unions that the NCUA has issued examination procedures to field staff regarding the new CDD and UBO rules that went into effect earlier in 2018. The Credit Union Letter included an attached supervisory letter that provides all federally insured credit unions with examination expectations for NCUA examiners regarding conducting reviews of a credit union’s compliance with the new rules.  

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