FinCEN’s AML priorities list over-broad, critics say

Nikhil Gore spoke with Global Banking Regulation Review about FinCEN’s new anti-money laundering priorities for countering the financing of terrorism. Nikhil says the list is so broad that banks will struggle to prioritize it. “While it is notable that corruption and cybercrime come first on FinCEN's list of priorities, the list as a whole covers essentially every major anti-money-laundering issue on the federal government's agenda,” he adds.

This may have been because of a “compressed timeline”, he says, with FinCEN under pressure to publish the priorities within a six-month period that spanned a presidential transition. “It is possible that future iterations of the AML priorities may be more targeted, which could make them more useful,” he adds.