handcuffed money on the table
The NCUA has joined federal banking regulators in proposing sweeping changes to anti-money laundering compliance rules, marking one of the most significant updates to the framework in decades.
The proposal, developed alongside the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency and the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation, would require credit unions and banks to establish and maintain "effective" anti-money laundering and countering the financing of terrorism programs aligned with the Anti-Money Laundering Act of 2020.
At its core, the rule shifts regulatory expectations away from prescriptive, checklist-style compliance toward a more flexible, risk-based approach. Institutions would be required to identify and assess their exposure to illicit finance risks and allocate resources accordingly, prioritizing higher-risk activities and customers.
The proposal also introduced a clearer standard for what constitutes an effective program, distinguishing between how a program is designed and how it is implemented in practice. Regulators indicated that enforcement actions would focus primarily on significant or systemic failures, rather than isolated or technical deficiencies.
Additionally, the rule would expand the role of the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network in supervising and coordinating enforcement actions across agencies.
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