On February 23, 2024, FinCEN issued a notice and request for comments on the proposed renewal, without change, of an existing information collection relating to records of certain domestic transactions, commonly referred to as geographic targeting orders (GTOs). The information required to be recorded and reported pursuant to a GTO is basic information that a domestic financial institution or domestic nonfinancial trade or business would have access to in the normal course of doing business, such as payment, receipt, or transfer of funds information.

On February 22, 2024, FinCEN announced that Director Andrea Gacki traveled to Puerto Rico from February 20-22 to attend the 20th Annual Puerto Rico Bankers Association Symposium of Anti-Money Laundering and to meet with Puerto Rican officials to discuss illicit finance threats. Gacki’s engagement with Puerto Rican financial institutions and officials highlights FinCEN’s collaborative efforts to combat public corruption, fraud, and drug trafficking.

In February 2024, the OCC announced it had issued a consent order against Blue Ridge Bank, N.A. for, among other things, violations related to their BSA program. Specifically, the consent order states that the bank has failed to establish and maintain a reasonably designed BSA /ML program that adequately covers required BSA/AML program components. 

In February 2024, FinCEN published the Small Entity Compliance Guide for Beneficial Ownership Information Access and Safeguards Requirements intended to help small entities comply with the Beneficial Ownership Information Access and Safeguards Rule. The Compliance Guide provides an overview of the Beneficial Ownership Information Access and Safeguards Rule requirements for small entities that obtain BOI from FinCEN.

On February 13, 2024, FinCEN issued a proposed rule to keep criminals and foreign adversaries from exploiting the U.S. financial system and assets through investment advisers.  The proposed rule aims to include certain investment advisers in the definition of “financial institution” under the BSA, prescribe minimum standards for anti-money laundering/countering the financing of terrorism (AML/CFT) programs to be established by covered investment advisers, require covered investment advisers to report suspicious activity to FinCEN pursuant to the BSA, and make several other related changes to FinCEN regulations. 

On February 13, 2024, FinCEN issued a Financial Trend Analysis (FTA)  reflecting an increase in BSA reporting associated with the use of convertible virtual currency (CVC) and online child sexual exploitation (OCSE) and human trafficking, covering the period from January 2020 to December 2021. According to FinCEN, they received a total of 2,311 BSA reports referencing CVC in connection with OCSE and human trafficking, totaling over $412 million in reported suspicious activity.