Tagged: fincen

May 16, 2020 @ 5:50 pm By JD Alois  |  

FinCEN Director Kenneth A. Blanco delivered a speech at virtual Consensus this past week addressing several hot topics of the day – including the “Travel Rule”; the FATF requirement that virtual asset service providers (or VASPs – think crypto exchanges) maintain information on purchasers and… Read More

April 28, 2020 @ 10:07 pm By Omar Faridi  |  

FTX, a digital assets derivatives exchange that primarily caters to Asian traders and investors, will be introducing a spot exchange in the US markets. Sam Bankman-Fried, CEO at FTX, noted that the company’s US-based trading platform is presently in its beta testing phase. The spot… Read More

April 15, 2020 @ 12:45 pm By JD Alois  |  

The Paycheck Protection Program (PPP), one of the elements of the CARES Act designed to help the US SME sector that has been demolished by the COVID-19 pandemic, has been lauded in its intent but criticized in its execution. Confusion continues as banks struggle to… Read More

March 19, 2020 @ 11:45 am By Omar Faridi  |  

US-based CoinZoom, a regulated digital asset exchange, has announced the official launch of its crypto trading platform and its company Visa card. Users will now be able to purchase, sell, and spend a wide range of cryptocurrencies via CoinZoom’s exchange platform. According to a press… Read More

February 25, 2020 @ 10:31 am By JD Alois  |  

Michael Mosier has joined the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN) as its new Deputy Director and Digital Innovation Officer. FinCEN is part of the US Department of Treasury. Mosier will be FinCEN’s first Digital Innovation Officer helping the agency to adapt to the fast-changing world… Read More

February 25, 2020 @ 8:44 am By JD Alois  |  

Last week, 50 senior officials convened in Paris to discuss “global issues surrounding virtual assets.” Participants included FinCEN, part of the US Department of Treasury, as well as the Financial Intelligence Unit Germany, France’s Tracfin, and other FATF countries. Virtual asset experts from the Financial… Read More

February 13, 2020 @ 11:58 pm By Omar Faridi  |  

Jamal El-Hindi, deputy director at the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN), a bureau of the US Treasury Department that analyzes information about financial transactions in order to prevent illicit activities, is calling on firms interested in bridging the cryptocurrency space with social media networks and… Read More

December 3, 2019 @ 11:51 am By JD Alois  |  

The Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC) along with three other federal agencies and in conjunction with the state bank regulators have issued a statement clarifying the legal status of hemp growth and production and the relevant requirements under the Bank Secrecy Act… Read More

November 16, 2019 @ 8:48 am By Omar Faridi  |  

The US government will reportedly be enforcing a rule which requires companies dealing in cryptocurrencies, including digital asset wallet providers and exchanges, to share details about their clients. This, according to Kenneth Blanco, director of the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN). The “travel rule” for… Read More

August 21, 2019 @ 10:23 pm By Cali Haan  |  

The U.S. Treasury Department’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) and Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN) have named several Chinese nationals, “as significant foreign narcotics traffickers pursuant to the Foreign Narcotics Kingpin Designation Act (Kingpin Act).” OFAC is also, “identifying Bitcoin addresses associated with these… Read More

August 18, 2019 @ 2:48 pm By Cali Haan  |  

America’s federal financial crimes enforcement agency, FinCEN, has noticed “a gap” in the reporting of illicit use of cryptocurrencies at casinos and card clubs in recent years, the agency’s director told attendees at the 12th Annual Las Vegas Anti-Money Laundering Conference this week. Director Kenneth A…. Read More

July 4, 2019 @ 2:18 am By Cali Haan  |  

The Dutch Finance Ministry and Ministry of Justice have vowed to regulate cryptocurrencies as part of the Netherland’s comprehensive new plan to combat money-laundering in the region. “Our goal is to guarantee an honest and safe financial system,” co-authors Minister of Finance Wopke Hoekstra and Minister… Read More

July 2, 2019 @ 11:14 am By Cali Haan  |  

FinCEN Director Kenneth A. Blanco told an audience at the  NYU Law Program on Corporate Compliance and Enforcement earlier this month that his agency is receiving 1500 reports of suspicious transactions involving cryptocurrencies per month- 500 more than it receives regarding regular transactions. Blanco has… Read More

May 9, 2019 @ 10:01 pm By JD Alois  |  

The Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN) has issued an updated advisory to warn financial institutions of continued widespread public corruption in Venezuela. This is part of an ongoing effort to isolate the Maduro regime who recently lost a popular election but has refused to leave… Read More

May 9, 2019 @ 9:40 pm By JD Alois  |  

The Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN) today issued guidance entitled, Application of FinCEN’s Regulations to Certain Business Models Involving Convertible Virtual Currencies (CVC). FinCEN is the enforcement branch of the US Department of Treasury. The guidance issued today does not establish any new regulatory expectations…. Read More

April 20, 2019 @ 10:08 am By Cali Haan  |  

The Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN), part of the US Department of Treasury, has fined the operator of a peer-to-peer cryptocurrency trading service $35,350 USD and barred him from money-transmitting, “for willfully violating the Bank Secrecy Act’s (BSA) registration, program, and reporting requirements.” In a release… Read More

April 12, 2019 @ 7:26 am By Cali Haan  |  

Jacob Burrell Campos, 22, from Rosarito, Mexico, has been sentenced to two years in prison and will forfeit $823,357 “in illicit profits” after being convicted of running an unlicensed money transmission business, that, “…(sold) hundreds of thousands of dollars in Bitcoin to over 1,000 customers throughout… Read More

February 2, 2019 @ 7:12 am By Cali Haan  |  

The State of Florida has been granted the right to appeal Judge Theresa May Pooler’s dismissal of a case of alleged unlicensed money transmission brought against a LocalBitcoins trader called Michell Espinosa. In 2013, Espinosa became the focus of a sting operation for “operating an… Read More

December 5, 2018 @ 7:00 pm By Cali Haan  |  

US Department of the Treasury Under Secretary, Sigal Mandelker, told attendees of the Financial Crimes Enforcement Conference this week that she expects to cooperate with financial institutions to enhance their illicit finance countermeasures: “We encourage the private sector…to stay proactive and to innovate with new… Read More

December 4, 2018 @ 9:22 am By JD Alois  |  

Multiple federal agencies have come together to encourage banks to innovate when it comes to compliance. The statement is part of a governmental working group that has been created to collaborate between some of the financial regulatory entities. The Office of the Comptroller of the Currency… Read More