FinCEN issued an advisory July 30 to alert financial institutions to potential indicators of cybercrime and cyber-enabled crime observed during the COVID-19 pandemic. Many illicit actors are engaged in fraudulent schemes that exploit vulnerabilities created by the pandemic, according to FinCEN.

NCUA sent a letter to credit unions (20-CU-22) this week updating the agency’s 2020 supervisory priorities to reflect economic conditions emerging in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic, as well as other statutory and regulatory changes.

FinCEN has issued guidance to address questions related to Bank Secrecy Act/Anti-Money Laundering regulatory requirements for hemp-related business customers. This covers hemp-related businesses, not marijuana-related businesses, which are covered by FinCEN’s 2014 guidance.

After 60 days of national availability, more than 250 credit unions are using either Credit Union Compliance Management System™, a CUNA or League member benefit, or Credit Union Compliance Management System PLUS™, the for-fee solution.

The FFIEC has made several updates to the BSA/AML Examiner’s Manual. CUNA’s compliance staff have detailed the changes on CompBlog. They are unrelated to the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic, nor do they include any new requirements.

Top threads from the CUNA Compliance Community.

FinCEN requests financial institutions affected by the COVID-19 pandemic to contact FinCEN and their functional regulator as soon as practicable if a COVID-19-affected financial institution has concern about any potential delays in its ability to file required Bank BSA reports. 

Bank Secrecy Act compliance touches challenges ranging from elder abuse to human trafficking.

FinCEN issued a ruling last week to clarify CTR Form 112 filing obligations when reporting transactions involving sole proprietorships. A recent CUNA CompBlog entry details exactly what the ruling means for credit unions.

CUNA has updated its Military Lending Act credit card fee spreadsheet for the first quarter of 2019, a necessary resource as a credit union may exclude a bona fide credit card fee from the MAPR if the fee is considered “reasonable,” under the MLA rule.