FinCEN proposes additional risk assessments for AML/CFT programs

Financial institutions would be required to conduct more thorough risk assessments on their anti-money laundering/countering the financing of terrorism (AML/CFT) programs under a new rule proposed by the Treasury Department’s Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN).

The proposed rule would “explicitly require that such programs be effective, risk-based, and reasonably designed, enabling financial institutions to focus their resources and attention in a manner consistent with their risk profiles,” FinCEN said Friday in a press release.

The new requirements were included in the AML Act of 2020, which became law in 2021 as part of the National Defense Authorization Act for FY2021. The law comprehensively updated the Bank Secrecy Act (BSA) for the first time in decades, according to FinCEN.