The U.S. Treasury’s Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN) has issued an advisory and guidance to financial services institutions on cyber-events and cyber-enabled crime.
The advisory, which is in the form of frequently asked questions, aims to help financial services institutions understand their obligations and provides guidance on areas such as suspicious transaction reporting, encouraging co-operation between cybersecurity staff and anti-money laundering (AML) personnel and information sharing.
“The proliferation of cyber-events and cyber-enabled crime represents a significant threat to consumers and the U.S. financial system,” FinCEN’s guidance says.
Although the advisory does not create any new legal obligations for firms, it does give guidance on how legal requirements apply to cyber-events and online crime.
In response, the U.S. National Futures Association (NFA) calls on firms to review the new guidance to determine whether their AML programs should be revised to comply with their obligations, and to ensure their compliance programs adhere to the guidance.