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Introduction

The Modern Slavery Act 2015 is new legislation introduced in the UK with the intention of combatting slavery and human trafficking.  Continuing the trend for legislation to have extra-territorial reach, as illustrated by the UK Bribery Act, it can apply to entities based outside of the UK.

Of particular importance to businesses is Section 54. This contains a requirement for certain businesses to state annually and publicly the steps they have taken to ensure that their business and supply chains are free from human trafficking and slavery (a “Section 54 Statement“).

On August 25, 2015, the U.S. Department of the Treasury’s Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN) released proposed rules that would require investment advisers that are registered or required to be registered (RIAs) with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) to establish anti-money laundering (AML) programs and report suspicious transactions to FinCEN. The proposed rules also would include RIAs within the definition of “financial institution” in the regulations implementing the Bank Secrecy Act (BSA), thereby requiring RIAs to comply with BSA recordkeeping and reporting requirements applicable to financial institutions.