On June 30, FinCEN issued its first ever list of priorities for anti-money laundering and countering the financing of terrorism (AML/CFT) policy with the aim to assist financial institutions in their efforts to comply with their AML/CFT obligations.

The new priorities were drafted after FinCEN consultation with a number of stakeholders and consideration of various sources of information. The list explicitly includes the use of cryptocurrency for ML/TF and ransomware payments. The priorities also focus on other areas such as corruption, cybercrime, foreign and domestic terrorist financing, and fraud.

FinCEN will issue the final revised regulations at a later date that will specify how financial institutions should incorporate these Priorities into their risk-based AML compliance programs.