Billions of dollars are transferred out of the country every year. But even with such high traffic, there is still quite a bit of bewilderment surrounding the roads of remittance transfers. This confusion comes with good reason; remittance has many rules and is closely regulated. What Qualifies as a Remittance Transfer? Let’s start with the [...]
On November 26, 2014, the FFIEC release the revised Bank Secrecy Act/Anti-Money Laundering Examination Manual. The manual includes revised risk-based procedures, current guidance on risk-based policies, safeguard operations for money laundering and terrorist financing, and much more. The FFIEC recommended that financial institutions “should familiarize themselves with these revisions and make the necessary updates to [...]
When regulators talk about the root causes of the problems in a financial institution's Bank Secrecy Act and Anti-Money Laundering programs, invariably the cause that comes out at the top of their list is a weak culture of compliance. FinCEN is well aware of the problem, and has issued several documents outlining their ideal compliant [...]
They say there's an exception to every rule, and in the case of the Secure and Fair Enforcement for Mortgage Licensing Act, or SAFE Act, there are actually two major exceptions to keep in mind. When used properly, these exceptions can be a small institution’s best friend. On the other hand, improper compliance with SAFE [...]
Like any trend, it sometimes seems like the focus on certain regulations comes and goes. In a world that increasingly relies on electronic devices, the Electronic Signatures in Global and National Commerce Act (which was implemented in 2000) seems to suddenly be in vogue. We’ve reviewed many institutions for E-SIGN compliance and have put together [...]
By Coppelia Padgett AffirmX Senior Analyst Every year, consumers in the U.S. transfer billions of dollars out of the country through banks, credit unions, and other businesses in wire transfers or automated clearing house (ACH) transactions, and many of these transactions fall under the definition of a remittance transfer. Despite their commonness, there is much [...]
As mentioned in our last blog post about E-SIGN, AffirmX has received numerous questions about the E-SIGN Act over the past few months. In this post, we turn our attention to similar recurring questions centered around one somewhat simple phrase in the regulation: “reasonably demonstrate.” In context, the regulation states that the institution should obtain [...]
E-SIGN is getting more attention than ever, it seems. In the past few months, our offices have fielded numerous questions regarding the E-SIGN Act and we have been asked to teach four webinars on the subject. The reason E-SIGN is getting so much attention now is that regulatory and technological changes are forcing the industry [...]
Originally published on CUInsight.com. For many people, August signals such pleasantries as football season and children returning to school. To the financial institution’s operations officer, those changes are just as likely to signal the impending deadline for the annual ACH audit. The National Automated Clearinghouse Association (NACHA) has mandated an annual audit of the ACH (Automated [...]
As vital as websites are for financial institutions, they are becoming high-profile targets, not just for regulators, but for industry watchdogs and consumer advocate groups. Yes, balancing an effective website and a compliant website is a difficult task. However, we’ve put together a list of the five most common website compliance mistakes we see to [...]
