The Financial Crimes Enforcement Network is seeking comment on proposed regulatory amendments under the Bank Secrecy Act, aimed at helping financial institutions use resources more efficiently.

Specifically, the amendments are intended to provide financial institutions greater flexibility in allocating resources and aligning priorities across industry and government, with the goal of enhanced effectiveness and efficiency of anti-money laundering programs, according to a FinCEN statement.

The potential regulatory amendments would make clear that an “effective and reasonably designed” program is one that:

• assesses and manages risk as informed by a financial institution’s own risk assessment process, including consideration of AML priorities to be issued by FinCEN consistent with the proposed amendments;
• provides for compliance with BSA requirements; and
• provides for the reporting of information with a high degree of usefulness to government authorities.

Comments are also being accepted on proposals to impose an explicit requirement for a risk assessment process and for the director of FinCEN to issue a list of national AML priorities every two years, according to the statement.

Comments are being accepted until Nov. 16, 2020. Notice of the proposed regulatory amendments can be accessed in the Federal Register.