According to the announcement on September 17, FinCEN is seeking feedback from stakeholders affected by changes to the AML requirements. This bureau of the US Department of the Treasury has since issued 60 days for interested stakeholders to have commented on prospectus regulatory amendments.

FinCEN noted that this move is particularly important in the combat of evolving illicit financial crime and will therefore set the stage for more solid AML practices,

“The regulatory amendments under consideration are intended to modernize the regulatory regime to address the evolving threats of illicit finance, and provide financial institutions with greater flexibility in the allocation of resources, resulting in the enhanced effectiveness and efficiency of anti-money laundering programs.”

Upon implementation, the prospectus changes will affect compliance and reporting by US domiciled financial institutions. FinCEN highlighted that the amendments are expected to be detailed enough, such that there is clear clarification on risk assessment methods, coupled with the consideration of oversight requirements under the US Bank Secrecy Act and AML priorities.

With a decade gone by since crypto made a debut, regulators appear to be paying more attention now that the trend is no longer a hype but a threat to traditional financial ecosystems. One of the areas that have proved incredibly difficult for oversight agencies is crypto in money-laundering and terror-financing activities.

It, therefore, comes as no surprise that FinCEN is joining its counterpart agencies like the IRS, which recently issued a $625,000 bounty for anyone who would crack Monero’s anonymous ecosystem. Going forward, more financial oversight authorities are likely to take a similar route as crypto gradually goes mainstream.

The post US FinCEN Set to Upgrade AML Guidelines in Wake of Evolving Illicit Financial Crimes first appeared on BitcoinExchangeGuide.

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