Fed Proposes Amended AML Rules for State Member Banks It Supervises

The Federal Reserve proposed to change the AML rules applicable to state member banks it supervises in order to align with a broader interagency effort and carry out the AML Act of 2020.

The Fed said its rules align with proposals that FinCEN, the OCC, the FDIC, and the National Credit Union Administration issued on April 10, 2026. It said consistent text across agencies would reduce confusion and duplicated effort; other agencies are also issuing near-identical rules for the banks they oversee.

Under the proposal, a supervised bank would be required to run an effective, risk-based AML/CFT ("countering the financing of terrorism") program. The proposal broadens approval authority for the program beyond the bank's board to also include an equivalent governing body or appropriate senior management, such as the CEO, CFO, chief legal officer, or chief compliance officer. According to the proposal, the program must be designed based on a risk assessment of the bank's customers, products and services, locations, and distribution channels, with more resources allocated to higher-risk customers and activities.

The proposal would distinguish between failing to establish a program and failing to follow one. The Fed could act at any time against a bank that never built an adequate program but would bring major enforcement over an implementation lapse only when the failure is significant or systemic, not for isolated slips.

The Fed said costs should be modest, since most banks already run programs that largely meet these terms, further explaining that the main costs would be one-time changes to documents, training, and governance.

Banks would have 12 months from a final rule to comply.