March 11, 2016
This guidance reiterates the anti-money laundering (AML) program obligations on the principals of money services businesses (MSBs) to understand and appropriately account for the risks associated with their agents,as broadly set forth by FinCEN in 2004 guidance primarily focused on foreign agents and counterparties. FinCEN is reiterating its guidance on this issue to complement recent guidance from states addressing MSB principal-agent relationships, and consistent with the purposes of the Money Remittances Improvement Act to encourage coordination between Federal and state regulators on such issues. MSBs serve important functions, including by facilitating remittances, and providing other financial services. This guidance is intended to provide clarity so that MSB principals and their agents can more easily understand how to comply with AML requirements while providing important financial services.
When conducting monitoring of their agents, principals must, at a minimum:
• Identify the owners of the MSB’s agents
• Evaluate on an ongoing basis the operations of agents, and monitor for variations in those operations
• Evaluate agents’ implementation of policies, procedures, and controls