Supervision and Regulation Letters

The Federal Reserve, together with the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation and the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (collectively, the Agencies), have issued a Spanish-language translation of the Federal Financial Institutions Examination Council’s (FFIEC) Bank Secrecy Act/Anti-Money Laundering Examination Manual (manual). The Spanish version is based on the most recent version of the manual issued by the FFIEC in April 2010.

The Agencies have developed the Spanish-language version of the manual largely in response to requests from industry and trade groups. Releasing a Spanish-language version of the manual furthers the Agencies’ goal of making their regulatory expectations regarding Bank Secrecy Act/Anti-Money Laundering compliance programs as accessible and useful as possible. In the event of a conflict between the English and Spanish translations of the manual, the English translation will prevail.

Reserve Banks are asked to distribute this SR letter, as appropriate, to state member banks, bank holding companies, Edge and Agreement Act corporations, and U.S. branches, agencies, and representative offices of foreign banking organizations, as well as to their supervisory and examination staff. Questions regarding this letter may be directed to Timothy P. Leary, Senior Special Anti-Money Laundering Examiner, at (202) 452-2428, or Suzanne Williams, Manager, Compliance Section, at (202) 452-3513. In addition, questions may be sent via the Federal Reserve’s public website.¹