Guidance and Advisory Issued on Banking Services for Money Services Businesses - FinCen

Bank Secrecy Act (BSA)Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FINCEN)Anti-Money Laundering

Financial Crimes Enforcement Network
Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System
Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation
National Credit Union Administration
Office of the Comptroller of the Currency
Office of Thrift Supervision

The Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN), along with the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System, the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation, the National Credit Union Administration, the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency, and the Office of Thrift Supervision (collectively, the “Federal Banking Agencies”), today issued interpretive guidance
designed to clarify the requirements for, and assist banking organizations in, appropriately assessing and minimizing risks posed by providing banking services to money services businesses.

FinCEN also has issued a concurrent advisory to money services businesses to emphasize their Bank Secrecy Act regulatory obligations and to notify them of the types of information that they will be expected to provide to a banking organization in the course of opening or maintaining account relationships.
While recognizing the importance and diversity of services provided by money services businesses, the guidance to banking organizations specifies that FinCEN and the FederalBanking Agencies expect banking organizations that open and maintain accounts for money services businesses to apply the requirements of the Bank Secrecy Act, as they do with all accountholders, on a risk-assessed basis.

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