FinCEN warns U.S. banks to watch out for sanction evasion attempts

The U.S Treasury Department's Financial Crimes Enforcement Network issued an alert to financial institutions warning them "to be vigilant against potential efforts to evade the expansive sanctions and other U.S.-imposed restrictions implemented in connection with the Russian Federation's further invasion of Ukraine." "Although we have not seen widespread evasion of our sanctions using methods such as cryptocurrency, prompt reporting of suspicious activity contributes to our national security and our efforts to support Ukraine and its people," said FinCEN Acting Director Him Das. All financial institutions, including those with visibility into crypto or convertible virtual currency (CVC) flows, such as CVC exchangers and administrators, should report suspicious activity linked to potential sanctions evasion and conduct risk-based customer due diligence, or enhanced due diligence where required, the agency said. Earlier, Coinbase (NASDAQ:COIN) blocks 25K crypto wallets related to Russian involved in illicit activity