In prepared remarks at a NYU Law event, Him Das noted that the COVID-19 pandemic and now Russia's invasion of Ukraine highlight the need for firms to stay on their toes when it comes to identifying and reporting a new wave of potential money laundering activity.
"Current events often make clear the importance of compliance programs that are well-designed and effective in preventing bad actors from exploiting the financial system," Das said, noting that this is imperative for firms to be able to assist law enforcement and national security agencies.
The agency has now issued two alerts — one focused on red flags related to sanctions evasion by Russian elites using crypto and ransomware schemes, and another focused on potential evasion through real estate and high-end artwork — Das noted.
He called ransomware a "scourge that continues to affect schools, hospitals, the U.S. energy grid and oil supplies, and large and small companies" around the U.S. The agency has also established task forces to track, freeze and seize Russian oligarchs' assets, he noted.
"We are working through public-private efforts to ensure that law enforcement and financial institutions can share information on ways in which the Russian government and its enablers may try to evade sanctions," Das said. "And, we are sifting through the information submitted by financial institutions to trace beneficial owners of shell companies established by oligarchs, hidden assets, and efforts to evade sanctions."
Das's comments come after the war in Ukraine threw a monkey wrench into the global recovery from the COVID-19 pandemic. After cases and deaths eased in many regions over several months, Russia's invasion of its westerly neighbor inflicted yet another round of shocks on global financial markets while putting global leaders, the U.S. government and its regulators on high alert.
Das's words echoed those of the head of the Commodity Futures Trading Commission, Rostin Behnam, who noted earlier this month that his agency is operating on "heightened alert" amid the Ukraine crisis.
"CFTC staff are using every tool the agency has to ensure that commodity markets continue to fairly and transparently serve the intended price discovery and risk management function," Behnam said at the time.
Speaking to FinCEN's broader mission to enforce the Bank Secrecy Act, Das noted that firms must have AML programs that are "reasonably designed and effective," not "paper programs" that may appear functional but don't allow an institution to meaningfully report suspicious activity.
He pointed to last week's $140 million settlement with USAA Federal Savings Bank and an earlier $100 million deal with BitMEX among the cases showing that the Treasury means business when it comes to financial institutions' compliance with the AML laws.
Meanwhile, FinCEN is working through dozens of requirements it must undertake as mandated by Congress under the Anti-Money Laundering Act of 2020, Das noted. For instance, in September 2020, FinCEN released a rulemaking proposal notice that garnered 108 comments, Das said, and in June 2021, the agency issued its first government-wide anti-money laundering priorities.
--Editing by Patrick Reagan.
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