Looking ahead: The Spring 2021 FinCEN rulemaking agenda

by Nick St. John, NAFCU Compliance Blog

Last week the Spring 2021 regulatory agenda was published, showcasing the regulatory plans and priorities of various federal agencies. We previously blogged on entries from the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB). This blog will focus on the entries pertaining to the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN), which are found on the page for the Treasury Department.

The FinCEN agenda includes a total of nine entries – some of which were published in prior versions of the unified agenda, and some new entries which mostly implement provisions of the Anti-Money Laundering Act of 2020 (a law that we previously blogged about here). Let’s breakdown what’s on the FinCEN agenda:

First, there are two rules that are listed as being at the “final rule stage”:

  • Fund Transfers, Travel Rule, and Virtual Currency Transfers: FinCEN issued a proposed rule on this topic in October 2020. That proposal sought to lower the reporting threshold for certain funds transfers and transmittals from $3,000 to $250, and to clarify that the reporting requirements applied to domestic and cross-border transactions involving convertible virtual currencies (CVCs) and digital assets. This proposal was listed in a previous version of the unified agenda. The current unified agenda predicts that a final rule on this proposal can be expected in September 2021.

 

continue reading »