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Revised Exam Manual Clarifies BSA Risk Assessment Issues, Consultant Says
printThe revised Federal Financial Institution Examination Council's Bank Secrecy Act/Anti-Money Laundering Examination Manual issued in July 2006 does a better job clarifying the risk assessment process for banks than earlier versions, says Carol Van Cleef, an attorney and partner with Bryan Cave LLP in Washington D.C. Van Cleef, who has been advising banks on anti-money laundering matters since the mid-1980s, believes the manual also helps to quell industry confusion in monitoring new vehicles for potential money laundering, such as trade finance and automated clearing house transactions. In October 2005, Van Cleef's firm and the Conference of State Bank Supervisors launched...
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In every longstanding relationship, there comes a point when both parties begin to question something they once thought they had agreed on. Talk to a Bank Secrecy Act officer at a conference, over dinner or in a bar and one point of friction with federal regulators inevitably becomes clear.
With the relatively modest changes in the latest version of the federal anti-money laundering examination manual comes the question: what will they mean for compliance exams?
An upcoming federal interagency examination manual will include details on how banks should react to law enforcement data requests as well as monitor for bulk cash smuggling, according to regulators.
Financial institutions that have recently become bank holding companies will face much tougher anti-money laundering regulatory exams through the Federal Reserve Board, say compliance experts.
Federal and state regulators have been conducting Bank Secrecy Act compliance examinations on money services businesses using a draft of a soon-to-be-released examination manual for the industry, according to regulators.
The U.S. Treasury's Financial Crimes Enforcement Network said in June 2007 that it was working with Internal Revenue Service and state regulators to produce an anti-money laundering exam manual for MSBs.
Federal regulators released a revised examination manual for Bank Secrecy Act and anti-money laundering compliance today to clarify expectations for trade finance, automated clearing house transactions and banking for money services businesses.
The manual, issued by the Federal Financial Institutions Examination Council, will include language from a FinCEN ruling on due diligence for certain correspondent accounts for foreign banks, according to people familiar with the matter.
Financial institutions that fail to establish a "reasonably designed" Bank Secrecy Act compliance program or correct problems in their existing programs are subject to cease and desist orders, according to guidance issued jointly by five federal regulatory agencies.
Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson, speaking Friday at the Financial Crimes Enforcement Networks headquarters, announced initiatives that include a more risk-based examination process and a narrower definition of the money services businesses industry.