On Oct. 11, 2019, the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN), the U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC), and the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), published a Joint Statement on Activities Involving Digital Assets. The purpose of the Joint Statement was “to remind persons engaged in activities involving digital assets of their anti-money laundering and … Continue Reading
On July 22, 2019, the federal bank regulatory agencies and the U.S. Department of the Treasury’s Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (collectively, the “Agencies”), issued a Joint Statement on Risk-Focused Bank Secrecy Act/Anti-Money Laundering (BSA/AML) Supervision. The Joint Statement emphasizes their risk-focused approach to examinations of banks’ BSA/AML compliance programs and is the third statement from … Continue Reading
In connection with the U.S. financial crisis 10 years ago, legislation was adopted to enhance the safety and soundness of the commercial banking system in the United States. Amendments to the Bank Holding Company Act of 1956 required five federal financial agencies to adopt joint regulations to (i) limit the authority of commercial banking institutions to … Continue Reading
On March 21, 2019, in Whitaker v. Wedbush Securities, an Illinois appellate court for the first time addressed the liability of a futures commission merchant (FCM) or broker-dealer (BD) under Section 4A-105 of the Uniform Commercial Code (UCC). By way of background, a customer of an FCM dually registered as a BD ostensibly requested a … Continue Reading
On Dec. 2, 2016, the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC) published a preliminary proposal to create a national bank charter for financial technology companies (fintech). The OCC’s rationale in support of the proposal was that such a charter could promote the safety and soundness of fintech institutions, bring greater legal and regulatory … Continue Reading
Michele Stocker, Greenberg Traurig co-chair of the Consumer Financial Services Litigation Practice, was recently quoted by the Florida Record regarding the ruling made in the case of Bartram v. U.S. Bank. She stated that “the Florida Supreme Court’s decision finally brings some clarity to the issue and will allow judges who have been reluctant to … Continue Reading
On Aug. 12, 2016, the World Economic Forum in Davos issued a report that predicts that distributive ledger systems, or blockchains, could enable banks to offer cheaper, faster and more secure services, without using bitcoin or other virtual currencies for transactions, according to the New York Times. Distributed ledger technology, or blockchain, is a system … Continue Reading
The Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (“OCC”) recently released new guidance on the process it uses when considering enforcement actions against banking institutions and individuals for potential non-compliance with Bank Secrecy Act (“BSA”) compliance program requirements and anti-money laundering (“AML”) rules. At the same time, the OCC also issued a revised policy for … Continue Reading
