FinCEN Director Andrea Gacki told lawmakers the agency is moving to implement the GENIUS Act with rules that would bring “permitted” payment stablecoin issuers inside the Bank Secrecy Act perimeter.
The US Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN) is “initiating the rulemaking efforts” required to implement the GENIUS Act, including regulations that apply Bank Secrecy Act obligations to permitted US payment stablecoin issuers.
Speaking in front of the Committee on Financial Services Subcommittee on National Security, Illicit Finance, and International Financial Institutions on September 9, director Andrea Gacki said the agency will keep engaging industry to ensure rules are “tailored” to stablecoin risks.
“We will also continue to engage with law enforcement to ensure the rulemakings are properly scoped for money laundering and terrorist financing risks related to stablecoins,” she said.
Gacki signalled a shift toward a more risk-based AML/CFT regime that explicitly allows institutions to de-prioritise lower-risk customers and activities.
The stablecoin rules sit within a wider push to modernise US AML/CFT so that institutions can de-prioritise lower-risk customers and activities and concentrate resources on the highest-risk profiles.
FinCEN is exploring changes to simplify Suspicious Activity Reports and Currency Transaction Reports, including form improvements, in order to reduce burden while preserving intelligence value. The agency has also issued orders that allow banks to obtain Tax Identification Numbers from third parties for Customer Identification Programme purposes, designed to ease onboarding without increasing risk.
Beneficial ownership rules reset for domestic entities
To reduce regulatory friction in parallel with AML/CFT changes, FinCEN has temporarily narrowed Corporate Transparency Act reporting.
Following the US Treasury’s March 2 announcement suspending CTA enforcement for US citizens and domestic companies, an interim final rule on March 21 revised the definition of “reporting company.” Entities created in the US and their beneficial owners are exempt from BOI reporting, while foreign-formed entities registered to do business in the US must report under revised timelines.
A final rule is planned this year.
Enforcement signals on cross-border risk
FinCEN framed its policy work against a backdrop of targeted actions that reshape payments risk.
In May, it proposed a Section 311 rule to cut Cambodia-based Huione Group off from US banking access, citing the firm’s role in laundering DPRK cyber-heist proceeds and facilitating digital-asset investment scams.
In June, FinCEN identified three Mexico-based institutions as primary money-laundering concerns in connection with illicit opioid trafficking, which prohibits covered US institutions from engaging in fund transmittals with those firms.
“These measures immediately prompted the Government of Mexico to intervene and take steps to directly oversee the three named institutions and their compliance activities,” Gacki explained.
FinCEN also highlighted work with systemically important financial institutions on Iran sanctions evasion and signalled forthcoming efforts linked to Cuba, reinforcing the emphasis on high-risk cross-border corridors and typologies that intersect with payments.
Consumer harm and fraud typologies
FinCEN reports that fraud remains the most-reported suspicious activity, with cyber-enabled schemes continuing to rise.
The agency issued a Notice on financially motivated sextortion this month and says it receives hundreds of SARs each month related to online child sexual exploitation, signalling expectations for stronger monitoring and reporting across card, wallet and P2P flows.
