News From the Federal Reserve

For Immediate Release
July 18, 2005


Bank Secrecy Act/Anti-Money Laundering Interagency Outreach Events

The Federal banking and thrift agencies, along with the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN), today announced registration details for the upcoming outreach events related to the Bank Secrecy Act/Anti-Money Laundering Examination Manual that was released on June 30. The events include:

Three nationwide conference calls to be held August 2-4, 2005; and
Five regional half-day outreach meetings, including a simulcast of one of the meetings via the Internet. These meetings will be held in San Francisco, Dallas, Chicago, New York, and Miami.
Registration details for the nationwide conference calls are attached. To register for one of the regional outreach meetings, click on the hyperlink below that corresponds to the meeting location that you would like to attend or type in the corresponding web address.

Banking organizations are encouraged to participate in these voluntary sessions. The content of these events is similar, and that should be factored into a banking organization’s decision to participate in the sessions. During these events, the BSA/AML Examination Manual will be discussed and examination expectations will be provided. There will also be an opportunity to provide feedback, ask questions, and address implementation issues.

Participating in the outreach sessions will be the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System (Board), Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC), Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC), Office of Thrift Supervision (OTS), the Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC), and FinCEN.

The BSA/AML Examination Manual emphasizes a banking organization's responsibility to establish and implement risk-based policies, procedures, and processes to comply with the BSA and safeguard its operations from money laundering and terrorist financing.

For questions regarding the registration process, banking organizations should contact Tonya Spratley of the FDIC at tospratley@fdic.gov. For broader questions on the outreach events or the BSA/AML Examination Manual, banking organizations should contact the local office of their federal banking agency.