The government is warning banks to beef up compliance programs to defend against money laundering and related offenses. The push comes as proposed regulations trigger a shift from a flexible, risk-based approach to customer due diligence to a more prescriptive one that comes with hard-and-fast rules and thresholds.
Earlier this month, the Treasury Department’s Financial Crimes Enforcement Network released a six-page compliance advisory to financial institutions. The guidance urged banks and other financial firms to ensure that leadership supports and understands compliance efforts and that programs to manage AML risks are not compromised by revenue interests. The guidance stressed creating a “culture of compliance,” where relevant information from the various departments within the firm is shared with compliance staff and banks devote adequate resources to its compliance function.
