The Treasury’s Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN) issued a statement this week setting forth its approach to enforcing the rules and regulations within the Bank Secrecy Act (BSA). According to FinCEN, it aims to provide clarity and transparency to its approach when contemplating compliance or enforcement actions against covered financial institutions that violate the BSA.
Specifically, the statement outlines the administrative actions available to FinCEN, and provides an overview of the information FinCEN analyzes in order to determine the appropriate outcome to violations of the BSA.
FinCEN has authority to take the following actions when it identifies an actual or possible violation of the BSA or any BSA regulation or order:
In all matters, FinCEN will consider the need to impose compliance commitments deemed necessary and appropriate to ensure that financial institutions are fully complying with their BSA obligations.
FinCEN considers a range of factors when evaluating an appropriate disposition upon identifying actual or possible violations of the BSA. The factors FinCEN considers include, but are not limited to, the following: