Compliance Blog

By Eliott C. Ponte, Regulatory Compliance Counsel

On Wednesday, the Federal Financial Institutions Examination Council (FFIEC) released a revised Bank Secrecy Act/Anti-Money Laundering Examination Manual (BSA/AML Manual).  Revisions were made throughout the BSA/AML Manual.  The sections with more significant revisions were noted in the BSA/AML Manual table of contents with “2014” in the subsection’s title.  In addition, the revised BSA/AML Manual has two new sections:  Prepaid Access, which replaces E-Cash; and, BSA E-Filing System. 

Significant updates include:

“Suspicious Activity Reporting (SAR) – Incorporated new SAR E-Filing requirements; guidance on the extension of SAR filing for continuing activity; clarification of prohibitions on disclosing a SAR; and guidance on sharing SARs with affiliates.

Currency Transaction Reporting (CTR) – Revised to incorporate new CTR E-Filing requirements and new guidance issued by FinCEN since 2010 related to currency transaction aggregation for businesses and exemptions.

Foreign Correspondent Account Recordkeeping – Included regulations relating to the Comprehensive Iran Sanctions, Accountability, and Divestment Act.

Foreign Bank and Financial Accounts (FBAR) – Incorporated new FBAR filing requirements.

International Transportation of Currency or Monetary Instruments Reporting (CMIR) – Clarified monitoring and reporting obligations under the BSA for international transportation of currency or monetary instruments.

Correspondent Accounts (Foreign) – Included additional guidance in the section on risk mitigation.

Bulk Shipments of Currency – Revised to incorporate FinCEN’s CMIR guidance for common carriers of currency, including armored car services (August 1, 2014), and clarify monitoring and reporting obligations under the BSA.

Automated Clearing House Transactions (ACH) – Incorporated National Automated Clearing House Association (NACHA)-The Electronic Payments Association modifications related to international ACH transactions and further defined third-party service providers.

Prepaid Access – Replaced Electronic Cash section and included an expanded discussion of risk factors and risk mitigation related to prepaid access.

Third-Party Payment Processors – Updated to reflect interagency guidance issued since 2010.

Embassy, Foreign Consulate, and Foreign Mission Accounts – Updated to incorporate the interagency guidance on accepting accounts from foreign embassies, consulates, and missions.

Nonbank Financial Institutions – Incorporated new FinCEN regulations for Money Services Businesses (MSBs) related to certain foreign-located persons engaging in MSB activities; new regulations related to prepaid access programs; and guidance regarding virtual currency administrators and exchangers.

Appendix T: BSA E-Filing System – Created to provide examiners with information on the FinCEN BSA E-Filing System.” 

Interagency Statement (Dec. 2, 2014).

The 2014 version of the BSA/AML Manual is available on FFIEC’s website in PDF format.  The non-PDF version of the Manual has not been published to FFIEC’s website as of the date of this blog post.  FFIEC has not stated it plans to remove the online version of the BSA/AML Manual from its website, thus NAFCU expects FFIEC’s website to be updated shortly. 

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 Programming Note: NAFCU's offices will close at 1:30 today for our annual holiday party.  We will be back to our desks on Monday. Have a great weekend!