Compliance officers at several New York-chartered financial institutions are planning to use a small yet significant provision within the state's new certification rule to limit their personal exposure to liability for anti-money laundering and sanctions-related violations.
Chief compliance officers and senior managers of New York-chartered financial institutions have begun the process of complying with the state's new transaction-screening rule amid persistent concerns that they could be held individually responsible for potential violations.
State-chartered financial institutions in New York are struggling to identify who among their senior-level employees should attest to the efficacy of their compliance programs under a regulation taking effect in January.
Amid questions from federal officials and criticism from bank lobbyists, New York regulators issued a final rule Thursday largely scrapping initial plans to hold senior compliance executives legally responsible for compliance lapses.
Federal officials on Monday voiced concerns about New York's plans to finalize a rule that would hold top compliance officers liable for regulatory lapses at their financial institutions.
A New York regulator's plan to hold senior bankers legally responsible for compliance failures conflicts with federal rules and threatens to exacerbate an industry trend to shed risk-fraught accounts wholesale, lobbying groups said.
An expected New York State regulatory proposal is likely to raise questions on how much senior bank executives can and should know about their anti-money laundering programs, according to compliance experts.