Beneficial Ownership Battles, Crypto Regulation, and Global AML Standards

In this week’s episode of This Week in AML, with Elliot traveling, Joe McNamara joins John Byrne to break down a busy week in global compliance news.

The big domestic story is the Corporate Transparency Act, where the House Financial Services Committee passed a bill to repeal the CTA for domestic entities - but only by a single vote. The hosts unpack what that means, where the legislation goes from here, and why a separate threat to withhold FinCEN's entire budget adds another layer of uncertainty to an already complicated picture.

North of the border, Canada's FINTRAC has rolled out updates to its administrative monetary penalty framework, including a notable elevation of certain compliance program violations from serious to very serious.

Internationally, Transparency International had a busy week - launching a new Anti-Corruption Resource Center, announcing the EU's first Anti-Corruption Directive, and publishing a working paper on professional enablers implicated in illicit financial flows from Africa. AMLA is also moving forward with two public consultations on risk assessment and compliance standards, with hearings scheduled for May 20th and May 28th.

Across the pond, the FCA is pressing ahead with the UK's crypto regulatory regime, targeting October 2027 for full implementation - with rules expected this summer and firm authorization applications opening in September 2026.

The episode closes with a look at FATF's latest ministerial declaration, a heads-up on OCCRP's coverage of the CTA repeal, and a walkthrough of FinCEN's 2025 Year in Review - a document the hosts recommend as essential reading for any BSA professional.

Plus, a preview of AML RightSource's upcoming May webinar on global financial access and a recent AML Conversations episode featuring former IRS CI Special Agent in Charge Paul Camacho.

Beneficial Ownership Battles, Crypto Regulation, and Global AML Standards - Transcript

Joe McNamara: Hey John, how are you this week?

John Byrne: Joe, good to see you again. Our colleague Elliot is traveling with his family overseas, so I appreciate you stepping in and helping us out this week.

Joe McNamara: I always look forward to these opportunities. I tell you and Elliot this all the time - it's probably not something I would do justice every week like you guys do, but sitting in that catbird seat from time to time is a true pleasure. So why don't we jump in? I know we've seen a lot of stuff floating around this week, but I think the most interesting thing domestically was the CTA announcement. I know you had some thoughts on that.

John Byrne: Right. As I think we premised last week, the House Financial Services Committee voted on a bill to repeal the Corporate Transparency Act (CTA). As you'll recall, they paused coverage of that law for domestic entities back in January of last year. This bill would retain coverage for foreign entities but repeal the CTA as it applies to domestic ones. Interestingly, the bill only passed by one vote. A Republican, Congressman Wagner - who has been very active in the anti-trafficking space - voted against it. Democrats did provide a number of amendments that failed, including a couple dealing with applying beneficial ownership information to fraud against older Americans and cybercrime, but all of those failed.

It now goes to the floor. Those who follow this closely believe it will be attached to a larger piece of legislation - the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) - which is a major bill that must pass, and committees will often attach relatively non-germane legislation to it. That's actually how AML A passed a few years ago. But it still has to go to the floor, then to the Senate.

Separately, a piece in Dow Jones just the other day reported that Republicans are threatening to withhold FinCEN's funding if the beneficial ownership rule is not eliminated. Specifically, FinCEN would not receive any of its more than $185 million budget until the agency finalizes the repeal of the so-called beneficial ownership rule, according to a budget bill approved Friday by a House Appropriations Subcommittee.

There's still a lot that needs to occur, but I find it curious that you'd give FinCEN additional responsibilities under the program rule - such as overseeing exam findings - while simultaneously threatening to eliminate their funding if they don't change the beneficial ownership rules. It's going to be interesting to see how this plays out. In the past, law enforcement has been very vocal about the importance of this data, though I haven't heard much from that community on this particular development yet.

Joe McNamara: You say "interesting" - I'll come out and say it's disappointing. But yes, more to watch there. Staying on the same continent but moving north, I saw some movement around FINTRAC and announcements regarding amendments tied to Canada's Strengthening of the Immigration System and Borders Act.

In terms of the main components - which are available on FINTRAC's website - these updates took effect as of March 26th and included an increase in the maximum amount of administrative monetary penalties (AMPs) for prescribed violations, as well as the introduction of "ability to pay" as a criterion when determining AMP amounts. There were probably five or six components in total, but the one that stood out to me was the elevation of certain compliance program violations from serious to very serious. I say "interestingly" a little tongue-in-cheek - it's always notable when definitional terms like that shift. But for our friends up north, something to be aware of.

Moving more internationally, I also saw - and I think you did too - a couple of things out of Transparency International.

John Byrne: Right. They're a tremendously well-regarded advocacy group, and they've been pretty vocal about their concerns on the CTA as well. A couple of things from them this past week. First, they've created a specific Anti-Corruption Resource Center - a help desk, if you will - that gives access to a range of questions and issues. One piece highlights how opaque ownership structures and shell companies remain the primary tool for moving value across borders, and that experts agree on core policy responses: strengthening beneficial ownership transparency, more rigorous verification of ownership data, and better information sharing across sectors and jurisdictions.

That brings me back to something I should have mentioned with the CTA discussion - it's going to be very interesting to see how the FATF mutual evaluation process plays out given what's happening in the US.

That's one piece from Transparency International, but they've actually put out a couple more this week. They've announced that the EU has taken its final step on its first Anti-Corruption Directive - worth a look when you get a chance. And the third piece deals with enablers. In the context of AML and CFT, the question is who bears responsibility beyond traditional financial institutions. They've published a working paper examining measures taken against professionals - accountants, auditors, lawyers - implicated specifically in illicit financial flows from Africa. It's a regional piece, but it speaks to the broader enablers issue. Transparency International offers free newsletters, and if you're not subscribed, you should be.

Joe McNamara: One hundred percent. And one thing I found particularly interesting - in that first piece you mentioned, they walk through several case studies that go beyond traditional corruption or the expected obfuscation. One of them involved what I believe was a Chinese media company front. It's always interesting to see what they surface. Excellent reporting.

Moving along, I also saw some news out of AMLA. There's been a lot of developments there over the past few weeks and months. It looks like they launched consultations on risk assessments and compliance standards - I know you wanted to cover that.

John Byrne: Right. And we have a tremendous international advisory board well-versed in everything AMLA-related, so please feel free to consult them. This came out late last week - two public consultations on what they're calling draft instruments that establish how required entities should identify, assess, and manage risk. Specifically, draft guidelines on business-wide risk assessment.

A few key points from the notice: they've put out minimum expectations for all entities across both the financial and non-financial sectors, while being careful to allow for proportionality based on business model, risk profile, and size - not a one-size-fits-all approach. They're supporting entities in making informed, risk-based decisions, which is something we talk about in the US but don't always execute well enough.

AMLA is seeking feedback from stakeholders - particularly from the non-financial sector, which tends to be underrepresented. There will be public hearings on May 20th covering group-wide requirements and on May 28th covering the draft guidelines on business-wide risk assessment. For those covered by AMLA or simply interested in their direction, there's a lot going on.

Joe McNamara: No doubt. And on the theme of consultation, moving over to the FCA - I saw something this week around their consultation on guidance for the UK's future crypto regime. A few things jumped out. Per the FCA's website, crypto will be regulated in the UK starting in October 2027. The FCA is currently finalizing the wider crypto asset regime, with rules expected to be published this summer. Parliament has also confirmed which crypto asset activities will fall within scope of the regulation.

The FCA is continuing to seek feedback on its interpretation of activities like issuing qualifying stablecoins, operating trading platforms, dealing in and arranging deals in qualifying crypto assets, and staking and safeguarding crypto assets. It's clear the FCA has built real momentum here and will continue rolling this out. It'll be interesting to see the influence this has back in the US as they move toward final rules. Notably, crypto firms will be able to start applying for authorization beginning in September 2026.

With that, let's head back domestically to wrap up - I know you wanted to cover some items out of FATF.

John Byrne: Yes. Beyond the plenaries and reports, FATF holds ministerial meetings, and last week a ministerial declaration was issued. The ministers addressed the growing threat of fraud and the risk-based implementation of FATF standards. Key themes from the declaration included: strengthening risk-based implementation, supporting responsible innovation in finance, rapid global implementation of standards on virtual assets, responding to the growing threat of fraud, assessing cross-border threats from transnational organized crime, combating the financing of terrorism and proliferation, risk-based assessments to ensure accountability, helping countries drive tangible progress so that - as they put it - crime does not pay, and supporting efforts to strengthen effectiveness for low-capacity countries. The full declaration is available on the FATF website.

As I've mentioned before, mutual evaluations are now focused on effectiveness, not just what's on the books - and that's going to be especially relevant given recent US developments.

One more quick item - the Organized Crime and Corruption Reporting Project (OCCRP) published a piece on the CTA repeal. Take a look at that on their website. They're an excellent investigative journalism organization.

And before we wrap, I did want to cover the FinCEN Year in Review, which is available on their website. It's always a useful training tool for BSA professionals, and it's going to be especially important to understand where FinCEN is spending its time and energy - provided their funding isn't cut, of course.

Under their framework of efficiency, effectiveness, engagement, and impact: on efficiency, they claim $10 billion in savings due to deregulatory action - probably worth some further research on that one. On effectiveness, over 90% of surveyed law enforcement, intelligence, and other partners report valuing BSA information - I don't dispute that, though the debate within the industry about the overall value of the information collected is a worthwhile one. On engagement, FinCEN held nearly 600 events in 2025 to train and engage stakeholders on AML/CFT topics across the country, including one in Puerto Rico that our board member Mary Lou Jimenez was particularly pleased about. And on impact, $991 million has been returned to victims of fraud through the Rapid Response Program since 2015.

It's on the FinCEN website and is a great resource. I'm actually planning to use it in my class at George Mason in a couple of weeks.

Joe McNamara: I think that about wraps it up. A couple of plugs from AML RightSource - by the time this airs, we will have concluded our April webinar on fraud, elder abuse, and sextortion. We had an excellent panel for that. In May, we'll be covering the current and future landscapes of global financial access. John, are you moderating that one?

John Byrne: Yes. We're still putting together the panel, but it will look at issues we've discussed a lot in these conversations - including the difficulty humanitarian groups face in gaining access to the financial system due to various concerns, including the response from groups like the Charity and Security Network to FATF Recommendation 8 on terrorist financing. We want to give both an overview of the access issues and, more importantly, practical advice and strategies for navigating them. We've done podcasts on this topic before as well.

One other thing worth mentioning - we posted a conversation this week with Paul Camacho, an AML officer at a tribal casino on the West Coast and former IRS Criminal Investigation (CI) Special Agent in Charge. Paul is a prolific author - he's written over 20 articles for ACAMS Today - and he's a passionate advocate for targeted, meaningful training. It's a fun conversation. Check it out in a recent edition of AML Conversations.

Joe McNamara: Those are the plugs. John, thank you so much for the invite this week. I hope everyone continues to find value in this series. Looking forward to what's next week.

John Byrne: All right, stay safe. Talk soon.

Joe McNamara: Bye bye.