Notices to Members
2024 | 2023 | 2022 | 2021 | 2020 | Show more yearsNotice I-20-17
April 8, 2020
FCM and IB Members—FinCEN issues a special notice in response to the COVID-19 pandemic and updates list of FATF-identified jurisdictions with AML/CFT deficiencies
On April 3, 2020, the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN) issued a Notice to provide additional information to assist financial institutions in complying with their Bank Secrecy Act (BSA) and anti-money laundering (AML) obligations during the COVID-19 pandemic, including the announcement of a direct contact mechanism financial institutions may use to communicate urgent COVID-19 related issues to FinCEN.
In addition, the Notice encourages financial institutions to consider, evaluate, and, where appropriate, responsibly implement innovative approaches to meet their BSA and AML compliance obligations. The Notice also contains provisions relevant to beneficial ownership requirements and the CARES Act as well as updates to Currency Transaction Report filing obligations. NFA Member futures commission merchants (FCM) and introducing brokers (IB) should carefully review the Notice so that they can assess the impact it may have on their AML programs and their regulatory obligations.
Updates to list of FATF-identified jurisdictions with AML/CFT deficiencies
Furthermore, on March 26, 2020, FinCEN issued an Advisory announcing that the Financial Action Task Force (FATF) had updated its list of jurisdictions with strategic AML/counter-terrorism financing (CFT) deficiencies. NFA Member FCMs and IBs should review this Advisory to ensure that their AML programs have the most current information on FATF-identified jurisdictions with AML/CFT deficiencies and revise their AML programs accordingly.
Copies of the Notice and Advisory are available on FinCEN's website.
NFA continues to closely monitor the latest developments related to COVID-19 and its significant impacts on NFA Members and the derivatives industry. Timely information and guidance for Members and the investing public continues to be posted to NFA's dedicated COVID-19 webpage as it becomes available.