Despite recent announcements from the Trump administration regarding its desire to reduce regulation affecting financial institutions, all indications suggest the new administration believes the enforcement of the Bank Secrecy Act/Anti-Money Laundering (BSA/AML) should remain a top priority over the next several years. The pace of inquiries and the amount of fines levied against institutions in the past few years, as well as individual compliance officers who have been cited for personally failing to ensure the proper levels of AML compliance programs at their respective banks, make it imperative that financial institutions of all sizes keep their AML programs up-to-date and effective. Any institution that fails to do so is likely to find itself in the crosshairs of an unwanted and expensive regulatory inquiry.
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Topics:
John Mulvaney,
AML compliance programs,
anti-money laundering,
Bank Secrecy Act/Anti-Money Laundering,
AML,
BSA,
The Four Pillars,
The Five Pillars,
FinCen
When your workforce is operating at full efficiency, you’ll see benefits in your bottom line. Our 32nd annual Architectural Survey of firms in greater Boston gave us some insight into what drives profitability in the Architecture, Engineering & Consulting (A/E/C) sector.
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Topics:
David Swan,
architecture firm,
architecture,
survey,
2017 architecture firms,
2017 arch survey,
Greater Boston Architecture
Overhead expenses continue to increase for Greater Boston area architecture firms. Our 2017 architectural survey found that overhead rates jumped from $62.77 per direct hour in 2015 to $67.83 in 2016. A number of factors contributed to the increase, including the decline in direct hours charged by area firms.
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Topics:
David Swan,
architecture firm,
architecture,
survey,
2017 architecture firms,
2017 arch survey,
Greater Boston Architecture
Minimal Changes in Dollar Limitations on Benefits and Contributions for Retirement Plans Announced for 2018
The IRS has announced the 2018 cost-of-living adjustments applicable to dollar limitations for retirement plans and other items.
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Topics:
retirement plans,
Bernard Kaplan,
403(b),
401(k),
2018 Benefit Plan Limitations,
cost-of-living,
457 plan
Tax amnesty programs provide significant benefits for businesses and individuals, particularly if they had previously unknown state and local tax liabilities. Uncollected taxes are subject to fines and other late payment penalties. They also accrue interest, so if unpaid taxes go back several years, it could be a significant cost. Taxpayers with overdue Rhode Island tax obligations may be able to get a reprieve on what they owe.
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Topics:
Tarra Curran,
Tax amnesty program,
Rhode Island,
Overdue taxes
