Press Release: Joint Statement of Enforcement Policy in support of Venezuela’s Economic Recovery and Earthquake Relief Efforts
AI Analysis
The FDIC joined the Federal Reserve, NCUA, and OCC in a joint enforcement-policy statement supporting Venezuela-related humanitarian relief and economic recovery. The statement says supervised institutions will not be cited for or enforced against under BSA/AML requirements for authorized financial services in Venezuela during the stated window, provided they meet specified compliance conditions.
Key dates
- 2026-07-31
- Policy becomes effective for authorized financial services provided to persons or entities located in Venezuela
- 2027-01-29 Deadline
- End of the stated commitment period for the agencies’ enforcement-policy non-action position
Suggested considerations
- Compliance teams may wish to confirm whether any Venezuela-related activity is specifically authorized under applicable OFAC sanctions licenses or other authorizations before relying on the policy.
- Institutions may wish to verify that their BSA/AML compliance program is currently in place and that they continue to make reasonable efforts to meet applicable BSA Requirements during the relief period.
- Firms may wish to review whether they have had a final BSA-related enforcement action by FinCEN or their primary federal regulator within the prior 24 months, as that would disqualify reliance on the commitment.
- Operational teams may wish to document the basis for treating transactions as covered authorized financial services in Venezuela and retain evidence supporting reliance on the enforcement-policy statement.
What changed
The agencies announced a temporary enforcement-policy commitment covering authorized financial services provided to persons or entities located in Venezuela from 2026-07-31 through 2027-01-29. During that period, the agencies state they will not take supervisory action, including citing a violation of law, or pursue an enforcement action against a supervised financial institution for BSA Requirement issues arising from such authorized services. The commitment applies only if the institution is currently compliant with an applicable BSA compliance program requirement and continues to make reasonable efforts to comply with applicable BSA Requirements, taking into account the need to provide humanitarian relief and financial stability. The institution must also not have been the subject of a
Compliance impact
The policy materially reduces near-term BSA/AML enforcement risk for covered Venezuela-related humanitarian and recovery activity, but only for institutions that satisfy the stated eligibility conditions. The agencies explicitly preserve enforcement for knowing, willful, or intentional violations and for activity outside the scope of applicable OFAC authorization or the policy's conditions.
Who is affected
Related regulations
References
AI-generated analysis. May contain errors or omissions — verify with the original FDIC source before acting. Full disclaimer.
What the FDIC said
PRESS RELEASE | JULY 31, 2026 Joint Statement of Enforcement Policy in support of Venezuela’s Economic Recovery and Earthquake Relief Efforts WASHINGTON — The staffs of the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System (Federal Reserve), the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC), the National Credit Union…
Extract from FDIC . Read the full notice at the source for the authoritative text.