On October 27, 2020, the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System (Board) and the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN) at Treasury, published in the Federal Register a joint notice of proposed rulemaking [Docket No. FINCEN-2020-0002] to modify the threshold in the rule implementing the Bank Secrecy Act (BSA) requiring financial institutions to collect and retain information on certain funds transfers and transmittals of funds. The proposed modification would reduce this threshold from $3,000 to $250 for funds transfers and transmittals of funds that begin or end outside the United States. FinCEN is likewise proposing to reduce from $3,000 to $250 the threshold in the rule requiring financial institutions to transmit to other financial institutions in the payment chain information on funds transfers and transmittals of funds that begin or end outside the United States.
The Agencies are also proposing to clarify the meaning of “money” as used in these same rules to ensure that the rules apply to domestic and cross-border transactions involving convertible virtual currency (CVC), which is a medium of exchange (such as cryptocurrency) that either has an equivalent value as currency, or acts as a substitute for currency, but lacks legal tender status. The Agencies further propose to clarify that these rules apply to domestic and cross-border transactions involving digital assets that have legal tender status. Written comments on this proposed rule may be submitted on or before November 27, 2020.
