Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent reiterated the administration’s commitment to reducing unnecessary Bank Secrecy Act/anti-money laundering regulatory burdens on community banks.
Details: Testifying before the House Financial Services Committee, Bessent:
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Discussed raising thresholds for smaller banks related to suspicious activity reporting and other BSA/AML requirements.
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Emphasized that Treasury wants to focus AML requirements on effectiveness and targeting actual criminal activity rather than creating unnecessary compliance burdens.
Administration Focus: Financial Crimes Enforcement Network Director Andrea Gacki in July said a modernized BSA regime is critical to protecting the financial system but that FinCEN wants to ensure financial institutions are not spending their time and money reporting activity of little to no value to law enforcement.
ICBA Advocacy: ICBA in June told federal regulators that proposed rules to reform AML and counter-terrorism-financing program requirements must be workable, risk-based, and appropriately tailored for community banks.