ANALYSIS: Covid-19 Is Raising AML Compliance Risks Even Higher

In early 2020, a series of U.S. anti-money laundering/combating the financing of terrorism (AML/CFT) actions signaled that this would be a year of rising scrutiny of AML/CFT compliance, and the simultaneous Covid-19 pandemic has taken AML/CFT risks to an entirely new level.

Financial institutions—and their individual officers—must keep up with these developments and assess the pandemic’s implications for AML/CFT compliance to avoid potential liability in the future for their actions now.

AML/CFT Compliance Risks Highlighted in Early 2020

The Department of the Treasury, the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN), and federal and state financial regulators filled the first four months ...