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A "confidential" February report by Treasury's Financial Crimes Enforcement Network lists more than 50 credit unions deemed vulnerable to potential money laundering but does not assert any wrongdoing by the entities, The Wall Street Journal reported last night.

Rather, the article ("Treasury Scrutinizes Credit Unions") cites FinCEN analysis of data and concerns over institutions' exposure to check-cashing companies and "other similar firms" defined by FinCEN as money services businesses, which are being driven off by "big global banks" that have faced years' worth of fines and money laundering investigations.

It says the FinCEN report notes criminals and drug traffickers "may be actively targeting vulnerable credit unions to access the formal financial system," sometimes working through MSBs. The article also alludes to similar concerns regarding smaller banks.

WSJ says the FinCEN report is based on analysis of currency transaction reports by credit unions from February 2012 to January 2014 "and suspicious-activity reports filed by other banks and financial institutions from April 2013 to January 2014."

The article includes comments from a representative of Actors Federal Credit Union about the rise in MSB requests for services and notes the defunct North Dade Community Development Federal Credit Union, which closed in March and paid a big fine last year over problems with BSA/AML violations.

It also looks at past, large settlements related to similar issues at large banks such as JPMorgan Chase and HSBC Holdings as well as a more recent case involving Citigroup.

The article notes federal banking regulators' focus on such risks at smaller institutions as well. As for NCUA, the article says a spokesman would not address specific cases but noted the agency's focus on ensuring against illegal activity.

NAFCU closely follows FinCEN activities and makes numerous BSA/AML compliance resources available to credit unions. Offerings include BSA training for volunteers, webcasts and a quarterly BSA Blast newsletter. NCUA also details risks related to MSBs in Letter to CUs 14-CU-10.