AML/CFT Program Requirements Proposed Rule - Joint Consultation
Summary
Three federal banking regulators (FDIC, OCC, NCUA) jointly published a proposed rule to modernize AML/CFT program requirements for supervised banks and credit unions. The amendments would align agency regulations with the Anti-Money Laundering Act of 2020 and FinCEN requirements, including risk-based program design, explicit customer due diligence integration, and a new FinCEN consultation framework. The proposal requires comments within 60 days of Federal Register publication.
What changed
The proposed rule would amend AML/CFT program requirements for federally supervised banks and credit unions to align with the Anti-Money Laundering Act of 2020 and FinCEN regulations. Key changes include codifying risk-based program design requiring institutions to allocate resources based on risk profiles, explicitly incorporating FinCEN's customer due diligence requirements, mandating that AML/CFT officers be U.S.-based and regulator-accessible, and establishing that only significant or systemic implementation failures trigger enforcement actions. The rule also creates a new FinCEN consultation framework for agency supervisory and enforcement actions.
Banks and credit unions should prepare for substantive compliance updates, including potential governance restructuring to ensure officer accessibility and domestic location. The risk-based approach requires institutions to document and justify resource allocation decisions tied to customer and activity risk assessments. Credit unions and community banks may face particular operational impacts from the designated officer requirements, while larger institutions should review enforcement trigger standards to understand how the 'significant or systemic' standard affects their supervisory experience.
What to do next
- Review proposed rule provisions and assess impact on current AML/CFT program
- Prepare and submit comments to the Agencies within 60-day comment period
- Designate or confirm domestic-based AML/CFT compliance officer to meet proposed requirements
Source document (simplified)
News Release 2026-25 | April 7, 2026
Agencies Request Comment on Anti-Money Laundering/Countering the Financing of Terrorism Proposed Rule
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Joint Release
Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation
National Credit Union Administration
Office of the Comptroller of the Currency
The Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC), Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC), and the National Credit Union Administration (NCUA) (collectively, the “Agencies”) today invite public comment on a proposed rule to amend the respective requirements for their supervised institutions to establish and maintain effective risk-based anti-money laundering and countering the financing of terrorism (AML/CFT) programs designed to identify, assess, and mitigate risks of illicit finance. The amendments are intended to align each agency’s AML/CFT rules with changes concurrently proposed by the U.S. Department of the Treasury’s Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN).
The Bank Secrecy Act (BSA) refers to the statutory framework imposing various AML/CFT regulatory requirements on financial institutions, including banks and credit unions supervised by the Agencies. In 2020, Congress passed the Anti-Money Laundering Act of 2020 (AML Act), which directed FinCEN and the Agencies to modernize and strengthen the AML/CFT regulatory framework to encourage more effective outcomes for financial institutions, regulators, law enforcement, and national security agencies. The Agencies are proposing to revise their respective regulations to reflect these broader revisions to the BSA, as well as to ensure consistency between FinCEN’s and the Agencies’ separately authorized compliance program requirements.
Among other changes, the proposed rule would:
- Incorporate the AML Act provision that a bank’s AML/CFT program should be risk-based, including ensuring that banks direct more attention and resources toward higher-risk customers and activities, consistent with the risk profile of the institution, rather than toward lower-risk customers and activities.
- Describe the requirements for a bank to establish an AML/CFT program; explicitly incorporate FinCEN’s existing customer due diligence requirement; and clarify that a bank’s designated AML/CFT officer must be located in the U.S. and accessible to regulators.
- Require that once a bank has properly established its AML/CFT program, the institution maintains that program in all material respects. In addition, the proposed rule would clarify that only significant or systemic failures to implement a properly established program would warrant an “AML/CFT enforcement action” or a “significant AML/CFT supervisory action.”
- Enhance FinCEN’s role in the Agencies’ supervision and enforcement process by establishing a new consultation framework for certain actions by the Agencies.
- Clarify that banks may share any information with FinCEN related to certain AML/CFT supervisory and enforcement actions. Comments on the proposed rule are due 60 days after the date of publication in the Federal Register.
Related Link
Media Contacts
FDIC
Brian Sullivan
(202) 412-1436
OCC
Andrea Cox
(202) 649-6870
NCUA
Ashley Gordon
(703) 346-9550
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