Is my advisory firm covered by FinCEN's AML rule?
Scope is not a judgment call here. It is a three-part test that runs on items your firm already answered on its own Form ADV, the same filing the SEC has on record right now.
The three-part test
Item 2A(1) has to read "Y": your firm is a large advisory firm registered with the SEC rather than with a state regulator, and SEC registration is what puts a firm in the rule's scope at all. Item 7A(1) has to read anything other than "Y": no broker-dealer among your related persons. Item 5B(2) has to be zero: no employee who is a registered representative of a broker-dealer. The last two matter because a firm with an affiliated broker-dealer usually has an AML program riding on that affiliate's, one that has covered broker-dealers under the Bank Secrecy Act for two decades. A firm with neither has no such program to lean on, which is exactly the gap this rule closes.
Why size does not save you
The rulemaking record shows commenters asked FinCEN to exempt smaller advisers by employee count, proposing thresholds around 20 or 100 employees. FinCEN said no in the final rule: "FinCEN therefore declines to apply the proposed exemption for RIAs with fewer than either 20 or 100 employees" (89 FR 72156, September 4, 2024). A two-person advisory shop that clears the three-part test above is in scope on the same terms as a firm with two hundred employees. The rule does allow the size of your program to be proportionate to your firm's actual risk, which is a different thing from being exempt.
What being in scope actually requires
In broad terms, the rule brings a covered adviser inside the same AML/CFT program structure that has applied to banks and broker-dealers for years: written policies, procedures and internal controls; a designated compliance officer; ongoing employee training; and independent testing on a recurring basis. It also brings the firm inside the Bank Secrecy Act's broader reporting regime, including suspicious activity reporting. What that costs in practice, and what the recurring test specifically covers, are both broken out on their own pages below. None of this is legal advice: read the rule text and talk to counsel before you act on it.
This page is independent research, not legal advice. It quotes FinCEN's own rulemaking with pinpoint citations. Verify anything load-bearing against the Federal Register text itself before acting on it.