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Yesterday, FinCEN announced two final rules designed to help safeguard the residential real estate and investment adviser sectors from illicit finance.

The final residential real estate rule, published [89 FR 70258] in today’s Federal Register and effective December 1, 2025, will require certain industry professionals to report information to FinCEN about non-financed transfers of residential real estate to a legal entity or trust, which present a high illicit finance risk. The rule will increase transparency, limit the ability of illicit actors to anonymously launder illicit proceeds through the American housing market, and bolster law enforcement investigative efforts.

• Residential Real Estate Rule Fact Sheet
• FAQs on Real Estate Reports

The final investment adviser rule, scheduled for Federal Register publication on September 4, and effective January 1, 2026, will apply anti-money laundering/countering the financing of terrorism (AML/CFT) requirements—including AML/CFT compliance programs and suspicious activity reporting obligations—to certain investment advisers that are registered with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), as well as those that report to the SEC as exempt reporting advisers. The rule will help address the uneven application of AML/CFT requirements across this industry.

• Investment Advisor Rule Fact Sheet

The Federal Trade Commission yesterday announced an update to the fees telemarketers must pay to access phone numbers on the National Do Not Call (DNC) Registry in Fiscal Year (FY) 2025, which starts on October 1, 2024.

The cost of accessing a single area code in the Registry will be $80 in FY 2025, which is an increase of $2 from FY 2024. The maximum charge to any single entity for accessing all area codes nationwide is now $22,038 (up from 21,402 in FY 2024). The fee for accessing an additional area code for a half year will increase $1 from FY 2024, to $40.

The CFPB has announced its publication of a new “issue spotlight” report on Cash-Back Fees.

The CFPB sampled eight large retail companies (Dollar General, Dollar Tree/Family Dollar, Kroger, Albertsons, Walgreens, CVS, Walmart and Target) and assessed their practices for charging cash-back fees. Three companies in the sample — Dollar General, Dollar Tree/Family Dollar, and Kroger — charge fees for cash-back service. At Dollar General and Dollar Tree/Family Dollar, cash-back fees for small withdrawal amounts are the highest in the sample ($1 fee or more for cash-back amounts under $50). Kroger, the country’s largest grocery chain, recently announced new charges at their Harris Teeter stores (75 cents for $100 cash back or less), and charges 50 cents for up to $100 cash back at their other brand stores such as Ralph’s, Fred Meyer, and others.

The CFPB's release says “Americans are paying tens of millions of dollars in fees to access their own money when getting ‘cash back’ at large retail stores when making a purchase with a debit or prepaid card, and that these cash-back fees are occurring against the backdrop of bank mergers, branch closures, and prevalence of out-of-network ATM fees that have reduced the supply of free cash access points for consumers.”

• CFPB Director’s Notebook statement

[Editor’s Note: The ABA noted this morning that public data indicate that nearly 96 percent of Americans live within a few miles of a bank or credit union branch.]

The OCC has announced community bank director and senior management workshops scheduled in nine cities across the country in September and October. The list includes the OCC's basic Building Blocks workshop and its Risk Management Series, which includes workshops on Risk Governance, Credit Risk, Operational Risk, Compliance Risk, and Capital Markets.

Most of the sessions are available for both in-person or virtual attendance.

Yesterday, FinCEN issued a press release reminding financial institutions to monitor for and report suspicious transactional activity related to the illicit fentanyl supply chain and the trafficking of illicit fentanyl and other synthetic opioids.

FinCEN has previously published resources on the trafficking of fentanyl, fentanyl analogues, and other synthetic opioids and the precursor chemicals and associated manufacturing equipment needed to synthesize these deadly drugs:

• Supplemental Advisory on the Procurement of Precursor Chemicals and Manufacturing Equipment Used for the Synthesis of Illicit Fentanyl and Other Synthetic Opioids (June 2024)
• Advisory to Financial Institutions on Illicit Financial Schemes and Methods Related to the Trafficking of Fentanyl and Other Synthetic Opioids (August 2019)

On Friday, the Department of the Treasury announced that OFAC and the State Department targeted nearly 400 individuals and entities both in Russia and outside its borders—including in Asia, Europe, and the Middle East—whose products and services enable Russia to sustain its war effort and evade sanctions. The United States government will continue to support Ukraine as it defends its independence and hold Russia accountable for its aggression.

For the names and identification information of the designated parties and vessels, see this August 23, 2024, BankersOnline OFAC Update.

The FDIC has issued FIL-59-2024 with guidance intended to provide regulatory relief to financial institutions and facilitate recovery in areas of Vermont affected by the severe storm, flooding, landslides, and mudslides from July 9 – 11, 2024. The initial designated areas include Addison, Caledonia, Chittenden, Essex, Lamoille, Orleans, and Washington Counties. FEMA may change the list of affected counties after damage assessments are completed.

The OCC yesterday released enforcement actions recently taken against national banks and federal savings associations (banks), and individuals currently and formerly affiliated with banks the OCC supervises.

Formal Agreements with:

• 1st National Bank, Lebanon, Ohio, for unsafe or unsound practices, including those related to strategic planning, capital planning, liquidity risk management, and interest rate risk management
• Generations Bank, Seneca Falls, New York, for unsafe or unsound practices, including those related to board oversight, strategic planning, liquidity risk management, and interest rate risk management.
• Maple City Savings Bank, FSB, Hornell, New York, for unsafe or unsound practices, including those related to board oversight and corporate governance, strategic and capital planning, liquidity risk management, and interest rate risk management, and a violation relating to transactions with affiliates
• Slovenian S&LA of Franklin-Conemaugh, Conemaugh, Pennsylvania, for unsafe or unsound practices, including those related to strategic planning, succession planning, balance sheet management, internal audit, and the bank’s Bank Secrecy Act/Anti-Money Laundering (BSA/AML) internal controls, audit, and training, and violations of 12 CFR 21.21 (BSA/AML compliance program) and 31 CFR 1020.210 (Customer Due Diligence)

Orders of Prohibition against:

• James Gomes, former branch manager at a New York, New York, branch of TD Bank, N.A., Wilmington, Delaware, for accessing an elderly bank customer’s accounts without authorization and transferring over $200,000 from the customer’s accounts to his own accounts
• Priscilla Jones-Cotton, former branch manager at a Fort Myers, Florida, branch of PNC Bank, N.A., Wilmington, Delaware, for stealing, embezzling, or otherwise misappropriating approximately $32,000 from the bank
• Deidre Katschke, former universal vault specialist at BOKF, N.A., Tulsa, Oklahoma, for misappropriating approximately $42,500 in cash from the bank
• Maria Salazar, former teller at a Louisville, Kentucky, branch of PNC Bank, N.A., Wilmington, Delaware, for conducting unauthorized debit card transactions using bank customer accounts that totaled approximately $10,200

Notices of Charges for an Order of Prohibition against:

• Roberto A. Garcia, former personal banker at a North Miami, Florida, branch of JPMorgan Chase Bank, N.A., Columbus, Ohio. The Notice of Charges alleges, among other things, that Garcia stole over $12,000 in cash from the bank, engaged in account takeovers of bank customer accounts, and used customer accounts to pay personal expenses.
• Lexus Inez Lewis, former fraud operations specialist, at a Jacksonville, Florida, branch of Citibank, N.A., Sioux Falls, South Dakota. The Notice of Charges alleges, among other things, that Lewis made false representations in her employment application and became employed at the bank in violation of federal law; caused fraudulent transactions totaling at least $389,000 to occur on bank customers’ credit card accounts; and kept bank equipment without authorization

The FDIC has issued FIL-58-2024 with guidance to assist financial institutions and facilitate recovery in areas of South Dakota affected by severe storms, straight-line winds, and flooding from June 16 to July 8, 2024. As of August 21, the affected areas included Davison, Lincoln, Turner, and Union counties.

OFAC has announced efforts to modernize its infrastructure and approaches to engaging with stakeholders to ensure sanctions are easily understood and enforceable — a key recommendation highlighted in Treasury’s 2021 Sanctions Review that OFAC is working to implement.

To ensure that its guidance remains up to date and relevant for the public, OFAC is updating many of its FAQs on general sanctions questions and issues. These FAQs are often OFAC's most viewed guidance, as they deal with basic principles of sanctions implementation. The first installment of updated FAQs is available now (FAQs 1, 3, 4, 6, 7, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 91, 126, 468, and 469) and includes guidance on key topics such as what OFAC means by “blocked property” and how to verify the authenticity of an OFAC document.

OFAC will continue reviewing FAQs through an ongoing process focused on providing up-to-date and useful information to the public. OFAC will announce subsequent FAQ updates via its Recent Actions Notices.