Tag Archives: Elizabeth Davy

FinCEN Notice on Efforts Related to Trade in Antiquities and Art

by Sharon Cohen Levin, Elizabeth Davy, Jennifer Sutton and Samantha Rosenthal

On March 9, 2021, the U.S. Treasury Department’s Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (“FinCEN”) issued a notice (“Notice”) to inform financial institutions about new provisions in the Anti-Money Laundering Act of 2020 (“AMLA”) relating to the illicit trade in antiquities and art.  As the Notice highlights, the AMLA amended the Bank Secrecy Act (“BSA”) to apply to dealers in antiquities and directed the Secretary of the Treasury, acting through the Director of FinCEN, to issue proposed rules to carry out the amendments.  The AMLA also directed the Secretary of the Treasury to perform a study of the facilitation of money laundering and the financing of terrorism through the trade in works of art.  The Notice emphasizes the heightened risk of the antiquities and art markets being exploited to launder money and finance terrorism and warns financial institutions with existing BSA obligations that illicit activity associated with the trade in antiquities and art may involve their institutions.  Finally, the Notice provides specific instructions to financial institutions for filing a Suspicious Activity Report (“SAR”) related to trade in antiquities and art.[i]  

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FinCEN Guidance in Response to COVID-19

by Elizabeth Davy, Eric J. Kadel, Jr., Sharon Cohen Levin, Shari Leventhal, and John Grein

Background

On March 16, 2020, the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (“FinCEN”) issued guidance (the “Guidance”) encouraging financial institutions to communicate concerns related to the timely filing of reports required under the Bank Secrecy Act (“BSA”) and identifying several patterns of fraudulent transactions that have emerged since the onset of the COVID-19 outbreak.[1] Continue reading