Newsroom
June 28, 2017
Thaler presses BSA relief for credit unions ahead of hearing
NAFCU's Brad Thaler urged regulatory relief for credit unions under the Bank Secrecy Act in a letter to the House Financial Services Subcommittee on Financial Institutions and Consumer Credit sent ahead of today's hearing, "Examining the BSA/AML Regulatory Compliance Regime."
Thaler, NAFCU's vice president of legislative affairs, noted credit unions' support of efforts to combat criminal activity in the financial system. He pointed to the institutions' positive working relationship with Treasury's Financial Crimes Enforcement Network and said credit unions find FinCEN's periodic publication of AML/BSA guidance to be "very helpful."
"However," Thaler added, "BSA requirements still remain a burden to implement, especially in the ever-growing tidal wave of new regulations since the financial crisis. We urge the subcommittee to continue to look for ways to provide credit unions with regulatory relief."
Writing committee Chairman Blaine Luetkemeyer, R-Mo., and Ranking Member Lacy Clay, D-Mo., Thaler offered some suggestions for relief, among them:
Thaler, NAFCU's vice president of legislative affairs, noted credit unions' support of efforts to combat criminal activity in the financial system. He pointed to the institutions' positive working relationship with Treasury's Financial Crimes Enforcement Network and said credit unions find FinCEN's periodic publication of AML/BSA guidance to be "very helpful."
"However," Thaler added, "BSA requirements still remain a burden to implement, especially in the ever-growing tidal wave of new regulations since the financial crisis. We urge the subcommittee to continue to look for ways to provide credit unions with regulatory relief."
Writing committee Chairman Blaine Luetkemeyer, R-Mo., and Ranking Member Lacy Clay, D-Mo., Thaler offered some suggestions for relief, among them:
- an increase in the transaction thresholds triggering suspicious activity report and currency transaction report requirements;
- extended suspicious activity filing deadlines to ease reporting burdens, particularly for ongoing activity;
- simplified SAR "notice filings" referencing earlier, more detailed SARs on ongoing activity;
- technical grants or training to support institutions' compliance efforts.
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