In early February, 2022, the Federal Reserve released a Synthetic Identity Fraud Mitigation Toolkit which offers a wide variety of informative resources for financial institutions, consumers and businesses on fraud mitigation. The issuance of the fraud mitigation toolkit is the next step in the Federal Reserve’s years-long commitment and engagement with fraud experts to support the payments industry in its battle against fraud.

On 1/24/2022, the FinCEN issued a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (NPRM) that proposes and solicits public comment on the establishment of a limited-duration pilot program for sharing suspicious activity reports (SARs), in accordance with Section 6212 of the Anti-Money Laundering Act of 2020. In the pilot program, a financial institution with a SAR reporting obligation would be permitted to share SARs and information related to SARs with foreign branches, subsidiaries, and affiliates for the purpose of combating illicit finance risks, provided FinCEN approves and approves the conditions.

On 12/20/21, FinCEN released a Financial Threat Analysis on wildlife trafficking threat patterns and trend information identified in Bank Secrecy Act (BSA) data filed between January 2018 and October 2021. The result of the analysis shows that wildlife trafficking-related SARs filed between January 2018 and October 2021 trended significantly up and SARs filed in 2021 are on track to meet or exceed the amount of SARs filed in 2020 based on current trends.

On 12/16/21, FinCEN and the OCC announced on separate issuances that they assessed a total of $8 million civil money penalty on CommunityBank of Texas, N.A. (CBOT) for willful violations of the Bank Secrecy Act (BSA) and its implementing regulations. As a result of its own investigation, the OCC assessed a civil penalty of $1 million for related violations while FinCEN agreed with CBOT to a settlement of $7 million.

On 12/14/21, FinCEN issued a request for information (RFI) seeking comments on ways to streamline, modernize, and update the anti-money laundering and countering the financing of terrorism (AML/CFT) regime of the United States. The agency is particularly interested in ways to modernize risk-based AML/CFT regulations and guidance so that they can continue to protect U.S. national security in a cost-effective and efficient manner.

On 12/7/21, the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN) issued a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (NPRM) to implement the beneficial ownership information reporting provisions of the Corporate Transparency Act (CTA). FinCEN explains that the proposed rule is designed to protect the U.S. financial system from illicit use and prevent malign actors from abusing legal entities, like shell companies, to conceal proceeds of corrupt and criminal acts.

On 12/06/21, the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN) issued an Advance Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (ANPRM) to solicit public comment on a potential rule to address the vulnerability of the U.S. real estate market to money laundering and other illicit activity. According to the release, this ANPRM is important as the systemic money laundering vulnerabilities presented by the U.S. real estate sector threatens U.S. national security and the integrity of the U.S. financial system.

On 12/1/21, the Federal Financial Institutions Examination Council (FFIEC) released their fourth update of their BSA/AML Examination Manual. This release, which is the fourth update in the last two years, added one new section and updated three existing sections of the Bank Secrecy Act/Anti-Money Laundering (BSA/AML) Examination Manual.