On August 28, 2024, FinCEN issued two rules to help safeguard the residential real estate and investment adviser sectors from illicit finance as part of its ongoing efforts to combat illicit finance and protect U.S. national security. One of the final rules will will apply anti-money laundering/countering the financing of terrorism (AML/CFT) requirements to certain investment advisers that are registered with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), as well as those that report to the SEC as exempt reporting advisers. 

On August 26, 2024, during Overdose Awareness Week, FinCEN reminded financial institutions to monitor for and report suspicious transactional activity related to the illicit fentanyl supply chain and the trafficking of illicit fentanyl and other synthetic opioids. According to FinCEN, its efforts to marshal resources and expertise to combat the trafficking of illicit fentanyl is in participation with the Department of the Treasury’s Counter-Fentanyl Strike Force.

On July 26, 2024, FinCEN issued a notice to customers of financial institutions about reporting beneficial ownership information (BOI). The Notice provides answers to key questions about reporting BOI to FinCEN under the Corporate Transparency Act and providing BOI to financial institutions in connection with Federal customer due diligence requirements. 

On July 24, 2024, FinCEN updated its Beneficial Ownership Information Frequently Asked Questions. The FAQs is FinCEN’s response to inquiries received relating to the Beneficial Ownership Information Reporting Rule and Beneficial Ownership Information Access and Safeguards Rule.

On July 23, 2024, the Treasury Department, on behalf of FinCEN published a Notice of Information Collection  and request for comments regarding the information collection associated with requests made to FinCEN by certain persons for beneficial ownership information. Written comments must be received on or before August 22, 2024.

On July 19, 2024, the OCC, the Federal Reserve Board, the FDIC, and the NCUA issued a notice of proposed rulemaking to to update their requirements for supervised institutions to establish, implement, and maintain effective, risk-based, and reasonably designed anti-money laundering and countering the financing of terrorism (AML/CFT) programs. According to the FDIC’s press release, the amendments are intended to align with changes concurrently proposed by the U.S. Department of the Treasury’s FinCEN.

On July 16, 2024, FinCEN, OFAC, and the FBI issued a joint Notice to financial institutions urging them to be vigilant in detecting, identifying, and reporting timeshare fraud perpetrated by Mexico-based transnational criminal organizations. The Notice provides methodologies, typologies, and red flag indicators to help financial institutions identify potential timeshare fraud in their transactions.

On July 11, 2024, FinCEN issued a supplemental alert to highlight additional red flags regarding financing of Israeli extremist settler violence against Palestinians in the West Bank. In February 2024, FinCEN  issued an alert to financial institutions related to funding of terrorist attacks against Palestinians in the West Bank by Israeli extremists.

On July 8, 2024, FinCEN issued another set of updates to its Beneficial Ownership Information Frequently Asked Questions. The FAQs are prepared by the agency  in response to inquiries received relating to the BOI Reporting Rule and BOI Access and Safeguards Rule.