Advisory to U.S. Financial Institutions on Promoting a Culture of Compliance

FIN-2014-A007 August 11, 2014
BSA/AML shortcomings have triggered recent civil and criminal enforcement actions — FinCEN seeks to highlight the importance of a strong culture of BSA/AML compliance for senior management, leadership and owners of all financial institutions subject to FinCEN’s regulations regardless of size or industry sector.

1. This advisory does not change any existing expectations or obligations under BSA/AML requirements. Similarly,
   this advisory is not intended to change or otherwise interpret regulatory expectations or obligations that financial institutions may have outside of the BSA. Financial institutions should also be familiar with and follow the guidance and requirements of their federal functional regulator and Self-Regulatory Organization (SRO) regarding any other applicable compliance obligations, such as those relating to safety and soundness, governance programs and enterprise-wide compliance. This advisory should not be interpreted in a manner inconsistent with previous guidance issued by FinCEN or any federal functional regulator or SRO. Financial institutions may refer to detailed guidance on FinCEN’s website organized by industry as well as to guidance provided by their appropriate federal functional regulator or SRO. Advisory to U.S. Financial Institutions on Promoting a Culture of Compliance Shortcomings identified in recent Anti-Money Laundering (AML) enforcement actions confirm that the culture of an organization is critical to its compliance. Although enforcement actions are specific to the subject financial institution and the characteristics of the situation, certain general lessons could be gleaned from these actions that could be instructive to the leadership of all financial institutions required to comply with the Bank Secrecy Act (BSA). Accordingly, the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN) issues this Advisory to highlight general principles illustrating how financial institutions and their leadership may improve and strengthen organizational compliance with BSA obligations.1 Regardless of its size and business model, a financial institution with a poor culture of compliance is likely to have shortcomings in its BSA/AML program. A financial institution can strengthen its BSA/AML compliance culture by ensuring that (1) its leadership actively supports and understands compliance efforts; (2) efforts to manage and mitigate BSA/AML deficiencies and risks are not compromised by revenue interests; (3) relevant information from the various departments within the organization is shared with compliance staff to further BSA/AML efforts; (4) the institution devotes adequate resources to its compliance function; (5) the compliance program is effective by, among other things,