A group of Democratic lawmakers are urging the U.S. Treasury Department expressing concerns about its decision to postpone the compliance date for its 2024 anti-money laundering rule (IA AML Rule) for investment advisers.
The compliance date has been pushed from 2026 to 2028. In addition, the lawmakers are concerned that the rule has potentially been weakened.
“The IA AML rule was designed to close a key vulnerability in U.S. anti-money laundering and countering the financing of terrorism (AML/CFT) requirements for the rapidly growing investment adviser and private fund industries,” the lawmakers wrote in a letter to Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent. “The decision to delay compliance leaves American national security and economic stability vulnerable.”
The letter was authored by Sens. Elizabeth Warren (D-MA) and Andy Kim (D-NJ), along with Rep. Maxine Waters (D-CA).
“As the industry continues to grow—with $144.6 trillion in assets under management in 2024, a 12 percent increase from 2023 alone—so do the risks it poses to American citizens, our economic and national security, and our democracy,” the letter continued. “The Administration has already taken several steps to roll back illicit finance protections, including disbanding multiple Department of Justice teams tasked with protecting against money laundering and illicit finance and narrowing enforcement of U.S. foreign bribery laws.”
The lawmakers want to know which external parties drove the decision to postpone and reopen the IA AML rule, the steps the agency will take to counter money laundering without the rule in place, and the agency’s plans to revisit the rule. They are seeking responses to those key questions from Bessent by Oct. 3.