The U.S. Treasury Department has finalized new rules on Wednesday aimed at increasing transparency in real estate transactions to combat money laundering in the residential real estate sector. These rules are part of a broader effort by financial regulatory bodies, including FinCEN, to strengthen anti-money laundering (AML) and countering the financing of terrorism (CFT) program requirements for financial institutions under the Bank Secrecy Act. The Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN) has also issued a notice of proposed rulemaking to amend these requirements. New U.S. rules also aim to make it harder for criminals to launder money by paying cash for homes.