On May 9, 2019, the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN) published FIN-2019-G001, which provides new guidance on the application of the Bank Secrecy Act (BSA) and FinCEN regulations to money services businesses that engage in money transmission involving convertible virtual currencies. While stating that it “does not establish any new regulatory expectations or requirements,” the guidance consolidates existing guidance, and in some areas applies the existing guidance to common business models and activities in ways that clarify how FinCEN intends to treat these activities going forward. The following Bloomberg Law article summarizes this important new guidance as organized by its six sections:
- Key Concepts
- General Application of BSA Regulations to Money Transmission
- Application of BSA Regulations to Money Transmission Involving Convertible Virtual Currency (CVC)
- Guidance on Application of BSA Regulations to Common Business Models Involving the Transmission of CVC
- Specific Business Models Involving CVC Transactions That May Be Exempt From the Definition of Money Transmission
- Available Resources
The article also contains a helpful chart that outlines the money transmitter status of certain common cryptocurrency business activities identified in the FinCEN guidance.