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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 Administration (NCUA), and the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC) (collectively, the Agencies) are issuing this statement of enforcement policy in support of U.S. Government efforts to facilitate economic recovery and financial stability in Venezuela, including efforts to provide humanitarian relief and assist reconstruction following the recent earthquakes in Venezuela. This Joint Statement is intended to reinforce a substantively similar statement by the Department of Treasury’s (Treasury) Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN) regarding its own enforcement policy with respect to Venezuela.
On June 24, 2026, Venezuela experienced a pair of strong earthquakes off the northern coast, west of Caracas, which have caused significant damage in several cities and triggered a humanitarian aid crisis in the region. The Agencies recognize that the timely provision of humanitarian aid can be impaired if institutions that are otherwise able to facilitate the provision of financial services to address the humanitarian crisis are unwilling to do so due to regulatory uncertainty. Accordingly, the Agencies commit to their respective supervised entities that they will not take any supervisory action, including citing a violation of law, or pursue an enforcement action against a supervised financial institution related to a requirement under the Bank Secrecy Act, the USA PATRIOT Act, and other anti-money laundering laws administered by FinCEN and the Agencies, (collectively, BSA Requirements) as a result of providing authorized financial services in Venezuela. This commitment applies to authorized financial services provided by an Agency-supervised financial institution to persons or entities located in Venezuela from July 31, 2026, through January 29, 2027.
All financial institutions supervised by an Agency may rely on this commitment provided that the financial institution: (1) is currently in compliance with an applicable Bank Secrecy Act compliance program requirement and continues to engage in reasonable efforts to comply with applicable BSA Requirements, taking into account the government’s interests in rapidly providing humanitarian relief and rapidly promoting financial stability in the region; (2) has not been the subject of a final enforcement action with FinCEN or the applicable Agency within the prior 24 months that involves violations of BSA Requirements; and (3) remains compliant with any applicable Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) administered sanctions regulations and authorizations. The Agencies’ commitment is intended to recognize that financial institutions exercising reasonable care to avoid violations of applicable BSA requirements in support of Venezuela’s economic recovery and earthquake relief efforts are not penalized for actions other than for knowing, willful, or intentional violations of any BSA Requirements.
Please note that this commitment does not apply to statutes or regulations except as specifically addressed above.
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