Anti-money-laundering (AML) program

Description

An AML program is the operational system that money services businesses, payment institutions, e-money issuers, and increasingly crypto-asset service providers run to detect and report financial crime risk. The Bank Secrecy Act, EU AML Directives (currently 6AMLD with the AMLR/AMLD6 package phasing in), UK MLR 2017, FinCEN guidance, and FATF recommendations have converged on a similar five-piece shape: customer due diligence at onboarding (with enhanced due diligence on higher-risk customers and PEPs), ongoing transaction monitoring against typology rules and anomaly detection, suspicious-activity reporting through the jurisdictional FIU (FinCEN SARs, NCA SARs in the UK, the EU FIUs respectively), staff training proportional to role, and an independent testing function that audits the program annually or biennially. The BSA / MLRO officer designation deserves separate attention: the named individual carries personal regulatory accountability for program adequacy and SAR-filing decisions, which makes both the role and the reporting line up to the board genuinely consequential. Most enforcement actions in the space turn on either failure-to-file SARs that should have been filed, or failure-to-monitor that allowed suspicious activity to go undetected. The program documentation matters less than whether the program actually catches things.

Applicability

Applies when: sector is fintech.

How predicates are evaluated

Required by (4 regulations)

• US MTL

  Bank Secrecy Act four-pillar AML program (compliance officer, written policies, training, independent audit); SAR ≥$2K with suspicion / CTR >$10K cash; FinCEN BSA E-Filing System; AML Act 2020 + 2024 BOI reporting framework.

  Bank Secrecy Act, 31 U.S.C. §§5311-5336; 31 CFR Chapter X; per-state Money Transmitter Acts

• EU EMD2

  EU AML/CFT obliged-entity framework; 2024 AML Regulation (2024/1624) + Directive 2024/1640 (AMLD6 effective 2027) + AMLA Regulation 2024/1620; transition to direct EU-level supervision of largest EMIs phased 2026-2028.

  Directive 2009/110/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 16 September 2009

• EU MiCA

  CASPs as obliged entities under EU AML/CFT; Regulation 2023/1113 Travel Rule for crypto-asset transfers; 2024 AML package + AMLA centralized supervision phased 2026-2028; STR/CTR filing to Member State FIU.

  Regulation (EU) 2023/1114 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 31 May 2023

• UK FCA Payments

  UK MLRs 2017 + JMLSG Guidance; FCA examination cycles + HMRC MLR-supervisor for lower-tier firms; Economic Crime Acts 2022 + 2023 expanded the operational scope.

  Payment Services Regulations 2017 (SI 2017/752); Electronic Money Regulations 2011 (SI 2011/99); FCA Handbook

Fulfilled by (3)

• comply-advantage · full · medium effort · $$
• sumsub · full · medium effort · $$
• In-house build · high effort

ClearLaunch does not accept payment from vendors. Methodology.

Evidence formats

• AML policy
• risk assessment
• SAR filings
• training records
• independent test report