OCC Bulletin 2024-19 | July 19, 2024

Anti-Money Laundering and Countering the Financing of Terrorism Program Requirements: Notice of Proposed Rulemaking

To

Chief Executive Officers of All National Banks, Federal Savings Associations, and Federal Branches and Agencies; Department and Division Heads; All Examining Personnel; and Other Interested Parties

Summary

On July 19, 2024, the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency, the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System, the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation, and the National Credit Union Administration (collectively, the agencies) issued a joint notice of proposed rulemaking that would amend the requirements that each agency has issued for its supervised banks, currently referred to as Bank Secrecy Act (BSA) compliance programs, to establish, implement, and maintain effective, risk-based, and reasonably designed anti-money laundering (AML) and countering the financing of terrorism (CFT) programs. The amendments align with changes that are being concurrently proposed by the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN) as a result of the Anti-Money Laundering Act of 2020 (AML Act).

The agencies and FinCEN are also issuing a joint statement that describes their proposed rules and the additional steps necessary to implement the AML Act.

Note for Community Bank

The proposed amendments would apply to all national banks and all federal savings associations, including community banks.

Highlights

The notice of proposed rulemaking would propose the following changes, among others:

Incorporating a risk assessment process in AML/CFT program rules that would require, among other things, consideration of national AML/CFT priorities published by FinCEN.
Including customer due diligence requirements to reflect prior amendments to FinCEN’s requirements.
Including amendments to codify longstanding supervisory expectations and conform to changes made by the AML Act.
Encouraging, but not requiring, banks to consider, evaluate, and as appropriate, implement innovative approaches to meet compliance obligations pursuant to the BSA.

Background

Pursuant to the AML Act, FinCEN is amending its BSA compliance program rules to incorporate national AML/CFT priorities and other changes. The agencies have independent authority to prescribe regulations requiring banks to establish and maintain procedures reasonably designed to assure and monitor their compliance with the requirements of the BSA. The agencies are proposing to amend their rules concurrently with FinCEN.

In 2016, FinCEN amended its AML compliance program rules to incorporate customer due diligence (CDD) requirements, adding beneficial ownership information collection requirements into FinCEN’s AML compliance program rule for certain financial institutions, including banks. The proposed rule would add CDD as a required component of the agencies’ AML/CFT program rules, which would mirror FinCEN’s existing rule.

Further Information

Please contact Jina Cheon, Special Counsel; Melissa Lisenbee, Counsel; Priscilla Benner, Counsel; Scott Burnett, Counsel; or Henry Barkhausen, Counsel; Chief Counsel's Office, at (202) 649-5490.

Theodore J. Dowd
Acting Senior Deputy Comptroller and Chief Counsel