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Guidance

Guidance is intended to clarify obligations or respond to questions of general applicability that arise under the Bank Secrecy Act and implementing regulations at 31 CFR Chapter X. FinCEN alerts, advisories, notices, bulletins, and fact sheets are located here. Guidance regarding beneficial ownership reporting requirements under the Corporate Transparency Act can be found here. Other information pertaining to the Anti-Money Laundering Act of 2020 is available here.

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Notice to Financial Institutions

FinCEN has updated the Magnetic Media Filing Specifications "ZIP Code Validation List" for the Mag Specs for the four SAR forms, the CTR and CTR-C. The updated files are available on the FinCEN website at www.fincen.gov/resources/filing-information.…

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Statement of Policy on Accepting Accounts From Foreign Governments, Foreign Embassies and Foreign Political Figures

It is the longstanding policy of the United States Department of the Treasury that persons residing or working in the United States should have access to U.S. banking services. This policy certainly encompasses the embassies and interests sections of foreign governments and their staffs.

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Guidance On Accepting Accounts From Foreign Governments, Foreign Embassies And Foreign Political Figures

In light of recent actions involving Riggs Bank N.A., the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency, the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System, the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation, the Office of Thrift Supervision and the National Credit Union Administration (“the Agencies”) and…

| Securities and Futures
Questions And Answers Regarding The Customer Identification Program Rule For Futures Commission Merchants And Introducing Brokers (31 CFR 103.123)

The staff of the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (“CFTC”), Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (“FinCEN”), and the United States Department of the Treasury (“Treasury”) are issuing these questions and answers (“Q&As”) regarding the application of 31 C.F.R. § 103.123. This joint rule…

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Federal Court Reaffirms Protections For Financial Institutions Filing Suspicious Activity Reports

Banks, thrift institutions, bank holding companies and non-bank subsidiaries, credit unions, the U.S. branches and agencies of foreign banks, and certain other financial institutions are required to file Suspicious Activity Reports (SARs) pursuant to regulations issued by the five federal…

| Depository Institutions, Insurance Industry
Guidance on Customer Identification Regulations Financial Crimes Enforcement Network FAQs: Final CIP Rule

The staff of the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System, Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation, Financial Crimes Enforcement Network, National Credit Union Administration, Office of the Comptroller of the Currency, Office of Thrift Supervision, and the United States Department of the…

| Casinos
Suspicious Activity Reporting Guidance for Casinos
| Casinos
SAR Narrative Guidance Package

PowerPoint Presentation Downloading and Viewing Instructions

FinCEN, in consultation with the federal regulatory authorities, has issued a guidance package designed to assist financial institutions in the preparation of Suspicious Activity Report (SAR) forms and to improve the quality of…

| Securities and Futures
Question and Answer Regarding the Broker-Dealer Customer Identification Program Rule (31 CFR 103.122)

Q. Broker-dealers engage in transactions through omnibus accounts and sub-accounts established by financial intermediaries. In these situations, (1) the omnibus account or relationship is established by or on behalf of a financial intermediary for the purpose of executing…

| Depository Institutions, Money Services Businesses
Guidance on Definition of Check Casher and BSA Requirements

1. Is a business that cashes a check with a face value of over $1,000 by providing the customer with $999 in currency and the balance in money orders or a wire transfer a “check casher” for Bank Secrecy Act (BSA) purposes?

For purposes of application of the BSA, certain…