July 31, 2006 News Archive

FFIEC Releases Revised BSA/AML Manual
In SR 06-11, the Federal Financial Institutions Examination Council (FFIEC) announced the release of the revised ank Secrecy Act/Anti-Money Laundering (BSA/AML) Examination Manual. Significant revisions and updates to the manual include risk assessment, automated clearing house transactions, trade finance activities, regulatory and supervisory guidance, emerging money laundering risks, and reformatting of the manual.

The revised manual uses a "core" and "expanded" format to provide examiners the ability to tailor each examination to the profile of a specific banking organization.

FFIEC Releases Updated Information Security Booklet
In SR 06-12, the Federal Financial Institutions Examination Council (FFIEC) updated its Information Security Booklet for examiners and financial institutions to reflect changes in technology and mitigation strategies, as well as recent revisions to related supervisory guidance. The discussion on risk assessments has been expanded to provide more detailed guidance on identifying information security risks and evaluating the adequacy of controls and applicable risk management practices. In addition, new or revised material is included regarding authentication, monitoring programs, malware, remote access, and other topics.

In addition to the revised Information Security Booklet, the FFIEC also issued an executive summary of its IT Examination Handbook that contains a high level synopsis of each of the twelve booklets that comprise the handbook. The Information Security Booklet and the executive summary are available electronically via the Internet through the FFIEC's InfoBase application.

In a press release, the Federal Reserve Board, jointly with the Department of the Treasury's Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN), issued an advance notice of proposed rulemaking (ANPR) that seeks information on the potential benefit and burden of lowering or eliminating the $3,000 threshold on the recordkeeping rule for funds transfers and transmittals of funds by financial institutions.

Comments on the ANPR must be submitted on or by August 21, 2006.