Despite perpetual talk of deregulation in the U.S., compliance officers at financial institutions are finding little reprieve from their anti-money laundering programs.
Experts expect an escalated pace of AML-related enforcement heading into 2019. The Office of the Comptroller of the Currency, for example, said it will increase its examination focus on the effectiveness of Bank Secrecy Act programs and AML systems and controls in its report on Fiscal Year 2019 priorities.
More importantly, AML enforcement in the U.S. continues unabated. “A flurry of new cases have hit the headlines since the beginning of the year, and the US remains the jurisdiction that levies the most AML fines globally,” says a client advisory from ACA Compliance Group, a provider of governance, risk, and compliance advisory services.
Recent enforcement trends, it says, include: severe civil monetary penalties reaching mid-size and small financial institutions; jurisdictions imposing...