The Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC), the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN), the National Automated Clearing House Association (NACHA) and the Federal Reserve have provided the following guidance on temporary procedures during the Covid-19 pandemic.
OFAC
- Contact OFAC as soon as possible if a financial institution believes it may experience delays in its ability to meet deadlines associated with OFAC’s regulatory requirements, including filing blocking and reject reports within 10 business days of occurrence, responding to administrative subpoenas (contact the administrative officer listed on the related subpoena), and required reports or submissions. Electronic correspondence to [email protected] or through the online licensing portal is encouraged over physical mail.
FinCEN
- If a financial institution is having difficulty submitting information due to Covid-19, the financial institution must let FinCEN know. There is an online contact mechanism available at FinCEN.gov. Select Need Assistance, and then Covid-19 on the drop-down list.
- PPP loans for existing customers will not require re-verification of beneficial ownership information unless otherwise indicated by the financial institution’s risk-based approach to Bank Secrecy Act (BSA) compliance.
- FinCEN has placed a temporary suspension on implementation of the new CTR filing requirement (FIN-2020-R001) involving sole proprietorships and entities operating under a “doing business as” (DBA) name until further notice. Those institutions that have already made the changes necessary to comply with the 2020 rule need not revert to the prior filing procedure.
NACHA
- The “wet-signing” of Written Statements of Unauthorized Debit (WSUD) has been indefinitely suspended due to Covid-19. WSUDs must still be executed within 60 days of receipt of an unauthorized debit to a consumer’s account. Businesses still have 24 hours to submit a WSUD. WSUDs may be submitted by phone or online. Receiving depository financial institutions (RDFIs) that have the ability for consumers to authenticate signatures remotely should do so, after having the consumer verify claims of unauthorized ACH debits.
- The Bureau of Fiscal Service has suspended their process of debiting RDFI Fed accounts when the RDFI has not responded to an ACH Reclamation notice within 60 days. Institutions should still continue to respond to reclamation notices.
Federal Reserve
- The Federal Reserve requirement to permanently modify the cash order deadline for all Federal Reserve Bank offices and cash depots to 12 p.m. local time, effective 4/27/2020, has been postponed until further notice. Financial institutions that have already prepared for the change may continue with the new procedure.
Please contact your CSH representative for further information and discussion or contact Angela Roberts at [email protected].
