BSA/AML answers
40 short answers to questions payments, money services, crypto and stablecoin compliance teams ask most. Each one is drawn from the Forteris library of passages checked against their primary sources (regulations, statutes, the Federal Register, FinCEN and OFAC guidance, and state law) and lists those sources.
Suspicious activity reports
Currency transaction reports
Red flags and typologies
- A customer receives funds from one bank account and, within a few days, sends most of it out to a different account, with no clear business reason. Is that a red flag, and what should we look at?
- Does one red flag mean we must file a SAR? How do red flags relate to the SAR decision?
- What are the red flags that a customer is acting as a money mule?
- What are the red flags of pig butchering or similar investment scams involving crypto?
Customer identification and beneficial ownership
AML programs
Funds transfers and the Travel Rule
Information sharing: 314(a) and 314(b)
OFAC sanctions
State money transmission licensing
- Is FinCEN registration a license to operate as a money transmitter?
- Does an online business need a state license where its customers are, even with no office there?
- How do California, Texas and New York treat a company that collects payments as an agent of a payee (a merchant), and does Florida's statute list a similar exemption?
Stablecoins: the GENIUS Act
Crypto and virtual currency
New York BitLicense
Sponsor banks and third parties
- Does the third-party guidance apply to a bank's relationship with a fintech partner, and how much oversight does a bank need to apply?
- What provisions should a sponsor bank consider in its contract with a fintech or other third party?
- Does the BSA require banks to screen all customers for politically exposed persons (PEPs) or treat every PEP as high risk?
Prepaid access
Recent FinCEN actions
Have a question this doesn't cover?
The Forteris Compliance Assistant answers your team's BSA/AML questions in Slack, from the same checked library, with every answer reviewed by Forteris before it is posted. Free for 14 days or 10 questions.