FinCEN Issues Final Rules Relating to MSB Definitions | McDermott Skip to main content

FinCEN Issues Final Rules Relating to MSB Definitions

FinCEN Issues Final Rules Relating to MSB Definitions

Overview


On July 21, 2011, the U.S. Department of the Treasury’s Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (“FinCEN”) issued a final rule (the “MSB Rule”), revising the regulations regarding money services businesses (“MSBs”). The final rule clarifies which activities subject a person to the Bank Secrecy Act’s (“BSA”) rules pertaining to MSBs and subjects certain foreign-located MSBs with a U.S. presence to the BSA rules. In particular, the MSB Rule (i) provides that certain foreign-located persons engaging in MSB activities within the United States are subject to the BSA rules; (ii) updates the MSB definitions to reflect past guidance and administrative rulings, current business operations, evolving technologies and merging lines of business; (iii) expands the definition of a dealer in foreign exchange to include forex traders, unless they are functionally regulated or examined by the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (“CFTC”); and (iv) separates the provisions dealing with stored value from those dealing with issuers, sellers, and redeemers of traveler’s checks and money orders.