All Things FinReg

Financial services is perhaps the most regulated industry in the world, and the intersection between financial services, technology, and law remains a complicated and evolving space. A team of Morgan Lewis lawyers recently attended the 2023 Money 20/20 conference and previewed some major themes and trends that the industry can expect in 2024.

The Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN) of the US Department of the Treasury issued a final rule on September 29, 2022, implementing the bipartisan Corporate Transparency Act’s beneficial ownership information reporting provisions. What’s noteworthy is that FinCEN used this as an opportunity to expand the definition of beneficial ownership to include any individual who exercises substantial control over the reporting company.

The Agencies issued a joint Fact Sheet that lists considerations for a risk-based approach when it comes to charities and nonprofits. While the Fact Sheet purports to not impose additional obligations on banks, it is hard to view the “considerations” as anything but.

The Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN) issued a final rule that requires minimum standards for anti-money laundering (AML) programs for banks lacking a federal functional regulator (the Federal Reserve Board, OCC, FDIC, OTS, NCAU, and SEC), i.e., banks and similar financial institutions that are subject only to state regulation and supervision, and certain international banking entities (collectively, “covered banking entities”).

The Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN) published guidance (Guidance) on customer due diligence requirements under the Bank Secrecy Act (BSA) for hemp-related customers on June 29. The Guidance, which recognizes hemp as defined under the Agriculture Improvement Act of 2018 (the 2018 Farm Bill), advises financial institutions on their BSA customer due diligence requirements for hemp customers. This Guidance supplements—but does not replace—the December 3, 2019 interagency statement on providing financial services to customers engaged in hemp-related businesses.

The Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System, the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation, the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency, and the US Department of the Treasury’s Financial Crimes Enforcement Network