In a new advisory, the U.S. Treasury Department's Financial Crimes Enforcement Network ("FinCEN") reminded financial institutions of two documents recently amended by the Financial Action Task Force ("FATF") that raise anti-money laundering or terrorism concerns. The two documents are: (i) the FATF public statement, which focuses on North Korea and Iran as jurisdictions to which countermeasures should be applied and/or that are subject to enhanced due diligence as a result of their deficiencies; and (ii) the "Improving Global AML/CFT Compliance: On-going Process" document, which lists Ethiopia, Serbia, Sri Lanka, Syria, Trinidad and Tobago, Tunisia, Yemen and Pakistan as jurisdictions that have strategic AML terrorism-related deficiencies. FinCEN cautions that "the changes may affect U.S. financial institutions' obligations and risk based approaches with respect to relevant jurisdictions."

The content of this article is intended to provide a general guide to the subject matter. Specialist advice should be sought about your specific circumstances.