Saying it recognizes fraud and other unlawful activity as a “significant and growing concern nationwide for banks and consumers,” the bank deposit insurance agency late Thursday encouraged banks to follow voluntary information sharing issued last month by the Treasury’s financial crimes enforcement arm.
The Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC) also issued a bulletin on the same subject Thursday to banks. In a separate letter, the National Credit Union Administration (NCUA) Friday issued similar encouragement for credit unions.
In a financial institution letter (FIL 34-2026), the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. (FDIC) supported Treasury’s Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN) guidance of June 12 on bank voluntary sharing of information. “The section 314(b) program provides financial institutions with the flexibility and connectivity to counter such threats by identifying repeat actors or financial schemes that move across financial institutions to evade detection, thereby limiting the exploitation of information gaps in the financial system,” the agency said in the FIL.
In its June 12 letter, FinCEN said its updated guidance on information sharing “provides financial institutions a safe harbor from liability related to their sharing of information with other institutions regarding activities that may involve money laundering or terrorist activities.”
It said a fact sheet it released in conjunction with the guidance – related to on section 314(b) of the USA PATRIOT ACT — clarified three things: the permissibility of real-time information under that section; under what circumstances information, including that related to fraud, can be shared; and (3) how information can be shared.
The FDIC, in Thursday’s letter, said the guidance additionally clarifies:
- Institutions may share information relating to activities that may involve suspected illicit activity even if such activities are merely an attempt to engage in a transaction;
- Information can also be shared with other program participants even if the entity sharing has no reason to believe that the information relates to any specific customer, account, or transaction of the financial institution receiving the information; and
- The sharing and the receiving party must maintain adequate procedures to protect the information’s security and confidentiality.
FDIC Encourages Voluntary Information Sharing Under 314(b) of the USA PATRIOT Act
Notification: FinCEN Guidance on Voluntary Information Sharing
NCUA Highlights Anti-Fraud and Other Updates in FinCEN’s Revised 314(b) Program Guidance
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