August 2016

We are issuing this guidance to clarify the date on which certain U. S. financial institutions must complete recertifications to comply with regulations relating to correspondent accounts established, maintained, administered, or managed in the United States for or on behalf of foreign financial institutions. Responses to certain frequently asked questions follow the summary background and analysis.

Background on Foreign Bank Certification Requirements

This Advisory warns financial institutions about the potential for fraudulent transactions involving hurricane relief monies. To assist law enforcement, we request that financial institutions include key terms in the narrative portions of all Suspicious Activity Reports filed relating to possible hurricane relief fraud schemes.

Money Services Business Guidance on Registration and De-Registration

Q. Futures commission merchants engage in transactions through omnibus accounts and sub-accounts established by financial intermediaries.

1. If a business only cashes its own employees’ payroll checks, is it a money services business?

The Financial Crimes Enforcement Network is issuing this advisory to U.S. financial institutions so that they may guard against a potential money laundering threat involving Belarusian government senior regime elements (including senior executives in state-owned enterprises), acting individually or through government agencies and associated front companies, seeking to move misappropriated Belarusian state assets as well as proceeds from illicit arms sales to or through the U.S. financial system.

Please note: During the process of developing this guidance, the federal banking agencies were also consulted. Banks that borrow securities through an agent lender in the manner described below may rely on this guidance in implementing their customer identification programs.

Guidance from the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network and the Staff of the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission

The Financial Crimes Enforcement Network is issuing this advisory to U.S. financial institutions so that they may better guard against an increasingly prevalent money laundering threat involving the smuggling of bulk U.S. currency into Mexico. This advisory warns U.S. financial institutions of the potential misuse of relationships with U.S. financial institutions by certain Mexican financial institutions, including Mexican casas de cambio. U.S. financial institutions should take reasonable steps to guard against abuse of their financial services by these entities.

The Financial Crimes Enforcement Network is issuing this guidance to clarify the due diligence obligations of mutual funds under the regulations implementing section 312 of the USA PATRIOT Act (“section 312”).¹ Specifically, this guidance addresses the issue of for whom a mutual fund establishes, maintains, administers, or manages an account when its shares are purchased or redeemed by a U.S. financial institution through the Fund/SERV system of the National Securities Clearing Corporation (“NSCC”) on behalf of a foreign financial institution.

The Financial Crimes Enforcement Network is issuing this guidance to clarify the due diligence obligations of broker-dealers, futures commission merchants, and introducing brokers in commodities (collectively, “securities and futures firms”) under the final rules implementing section 312 of the USA PATRIOT Act (the “section 312 rules”).¹ Specifically, this guidance addresses: (1) whether all five of the risk factors enumerated in the final due diligence rule for correspondent accounts established or maintained for foreign financial institutions² (the “correspondent acc