This article appeared in Business Crimes Bulletin, an ALM/Law Journal Newsletters publication that features the news and analysis you need to stay on top of the fast-changing, multi-faceted world of financial and white-collar crime.
Over the last decade or so, anti-money laundering (AML), counter-terrorism financing (CFT), and sanctions compliance have been the subject of increased enforcement efforts by the Department of Justice (DOJ), Department of Treasury, and federal financial regulators. We expect this trend to accelerate in 2021 and beyond, propelled at least in part by the recent enactment of the Anti-Money Laundering Act of 2020 (2020 AMLA). Passed with overwhelming bi-partisan support as part of this year’s National Defense Authorization Act, the 2020 AMLA may well have the most significant impact on the AML/CFT landscape since enactment of the USA PATRIOT Act. Among other things, the 2020 AMLA creates several new tools that law enforcement can employ to investigate and prosecute illicit finance, described further below.
