{"id":48492,"date":"2026-04-08T20:19:35","date_gmt":"2026-04-08T17:19:35","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/mk.gen.tr\/fincen-proposes-new-anti-money-laundering-rule-for-financial-institutions\/"},"modified":"2026-04-08T20:19:35","modified_gmt":"2026-04-08T17:19:35","slug":"fincen-proposes-new-anti-money-laundering-rule-for-financial-institutions","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/mk.gen.tr\/en\/fincen-proposes-new-anti-money-laundering-rule-for-financial-institutions\/","title":{"rendered":"FinCEN proposes new anti-money laundering rule for financial institutions"},"content":{"rendered":"

The Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN)<\/strong> has issued a proposed rule to reform how financial institutions build anti-money laundering (AML) and countering the financing of terrorism (CFT) programs under the Bank Secrecy Act.<\/p>\n

FinCEN said proposed changes aim to reduce the compliance burden by \u201cpromoting risk-based and reasonably designed programs\u201d \u2014 and create greater consistency in how banks<\/a> are evaluated for effectiveness.<\/p>\n

\u201cFor too long, Washington has asked financial institutions to measure success by the volume of paperwork rather than their ability to stop illicit finance threats,\u201d said Secretary of the Treasury Scott Bessent<\/a>. \u201cOur proposal restores common sense with a focus on keeping bad actors out of the financial system, not burying America\u2019s banks in more red tape.\u201d<\/p>\n

The proposed rule<\/a> would refocus compliance obligations on perceived effectiveness by distinguishing between program design failures and implementation deficiencies, officials said. <\/p>\n

\u201cIt reinforces Treasury\u2019s belief that financial institutions are best positioned to identify and evaluate their own illicit finance risks,\u201d FinCEN stated.<\/p>\n

Expectations for independent testing and audit functions would be clarified \u2014 which FinCEN said will \u201c[ensure that] examiners do not substitute their subjective judgment in place of financial institutions\u2019 risk-based and reasonably designed AML\/CFT programs.\u201d<\/p>\n

FinCEN<\/a> would also play a more central role in AML\/CFT supervision, including through a new notice and consultation framework with federal banking supervisors regarding significant supervisory actions.<\/p>\n

The rule would revise FinCEN\u2019s regulations to reflect changes from the Anti-Money Laundering Act of 2020 \u2014 and fully replace a prior proposed rule published July 3, 2024, which FinCEN is withdrawing.<\/p>\n

Watchdog raises concerns<\/h2>\n

Government watchdog nonprofit Transparency International U.S. said it welcomed FinCEN\u2019s action but found shortcomings.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe proposal, if finalized as proposed, would also make it harder for regulators to step in when banks and other financial institutions have weak AML controls, suggesting that serious action would usually be reserved for especially large or widespread failures,\u201d the organization stated. \u201cIt also misses a chance to more clearly focus on corruption-related money laundering, and backs away from some of the clearer risk-assessment features in the prior, 2024 version of the rule.<\/p>\n

\u201c[That includes] more explicit attention to intermediaries and other professional \u2018enablers\u2019 of money laundering and corruption, which are often key warning signs in bribery, kleptocracy, sanctions evasion and other complex dirty money schemes.\u201d<\/p>\n

Public comment will be accepted for 60 days after the proposal is published in the Federal Register in the coming days.<\/p>\n

Judge strikes down title insurance rule<\/h2>\n

In a separate action, a federal judge in Texas in March vacated<\/a> FinCEN\u2019s AML rule that required title insurance companies to report details of millions of residential real estate transactions.<\/p>\n

U.S. District Judge Jeremy Kernodle of the Eastern District of Texas ruled that FinCEN exceeded its statutory authority. The rule \u2014 which took effect March 1 \u2014 mandated reporting for any non-financed residential real estate transfer where ownership was held by an entity or trust, with no geographic or price threshold.<\/p>\n

Kernodle noted that by FinCEN\u2019s own estimates the rule would have covered between 800,000 and 850,000 transfers annually at a compliance cost of up to $690 million.<\/p>\n

He rejected FinCEN\u2019s argument that existing law independently authorized the rule and allowed the agency to require financial institutions to \u201cmaintain appropriate procedures, including the collection and reporting of certain information.\u201d<\/p>\n

The decision vacated the rule entirely, restoring the status quo that existed before the regulation took effect.<\/p>\n

Jonathan Delozier reported and wrote this article with drafting assistance from HousingWire Automation, an editorial tool that helps transform announcements and industry data into HousingWire-style news coverage.<\/em><\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN) has issued a proposed rule to reform how financial institutions build anti-money laundering (AML) and countering the financing of terrorism (CFT) programs under the Bank Secrecy Act. FinCEN said proposed changes aim to reduce the compliance burden by \u201cpromoting risk-based and reasonably designed programs\u201d \u2014 and create greater consistency…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":0,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"inline_featured_image":false},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/mk.gen.tr\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/48492"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/mk.gen.tr\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/mk.gen.tr\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mk.gen.tr\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=48492"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/mk.gen.tr\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/48492\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/mk.gen.tr\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=48492"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mk.gen.tr\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=48492"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mk.gen.tr\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=48492"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}