Operations - FINCEN - Financial Crimes Enforcement
FINCEN - Operations
Money laundering involves disguising assets so they can be used without detection of the illegal activity
that produced them. The profits of crime that are bled into the financial system each year are staggering
and detrimental by any calculation. However, financial institutions, through the combined efforts of
Treasury agencies, federal and state banking regulators and the industry itself, have undergone a
revolution in attitudes and compliance since the early 1980s.
Recent regulatory efforts by FinCEN, in concert with the industry, have moved national anti-money
laundering steps away from simple reporting of large currency transactions in and out of banks to what is
more important to law enforcement--the reporting of suspicious activity. Also in recent years, as banks
have moved to aggressively prevent and detect money laundering, criminals have moved to non-banks--a
range of large to small less-traditional financial service providers. In response, recent legislation has
focused beyond banks to non-banks --money remitters, casinos, check cashers and others.
FinCEN is one of Treasury’s primary agencies to establish, oversee and implement policies to prevent
and detect money laundering. This is accomplished in two ways. First, FinCEN uses counter-money
laundering laws (such as the Bank Secrecy Act--"BSA") to require reporting and record keeping by banks and
other financial institutions. This record keeping preserves a financial trail for investigators to follow as they
track criminals and their assets. The BSA also requires reporting suspicious currency transactions which
could trigger investigations. FinCEN establishes these policies and regulations to deter and detect money
laundering in partnership with the financial community.
Second, FinCEN provides intelligence and analytical support to law enforcement. FinCEN's work is
concentrated on combining information reported under the BSA with other government and public information.
This information is then disclosed to FinCEN's customers in the law enforcement community in the form of
intelligence reports. These reports help them build investigations and plan new strategies to combat money
laundering.
FinCEN serves the interests of the financial, law enforcement and regulatory communities. FinCEN's analysts
provide case support to more than 150 federal, state, and local agencies, issuing approximately 8,000
intelligence reports each year. Using advanced technology and a variety of data sources, FinCEN links
together various financial elements of the crime, helping federal, state and local law enforcement find the
missing pieces to the criminal puzzle. Each year FinCEN answers an average of more than 6,800
requests for investigative information. To respond to these requests, FinCEN intelligence analysts use
advanced technology and countless data sources to link together various aspects of a case and to add value to
what is already known by investigators. Since its creation in 1990, FinCEN has provided almost 38,000
analytical case reports involving over 100,000 subjects to federal, state, and local law enforcement agencies.
The Interagency Coordination Group (ICG), established in 1996, focuses on sharing narcotics money laundering intelligence in order to promote
multi-agency money laundering investigations. The ICG consists of representatives from the Internal Revenue
Service (Criminal Investigation), U.S. Customs Service, Drug Enforcement Administration, Federal Bureau of
Investigation, and the U.S. Postal Inspectors. FinCEN and the Department of Justice’s Criminal Division serve
as advisors to the group.
International Coordination
Addressing money laundering is a nationwide problem and FinCEN treats it that way. Through Project
Gateway, FinCEN works with law enforcement officials in each state so that they have on-line access to
FinCEN's databases. Gateway's cutting edge technology gives each state electronic access directly to
financial information which they use with great success.
The President of the United States, during his address to the United Nations on October 22, 1995,
authorized a number of actions which provide an even more aggressive approach to dealing with
international criminal organizations. Those countries in which these organizations are now allowed to
operate and prosper, unrestricted by counter-money laundering efforts, will be compelled to conform to the
international goals established to deal with the issue of international crime. These countries will be held
publicly accountable for their role in the common effort to deter international criminal activities. In order to
implement his goals, the President is assigning a very high priority to negotiating agreements that ensure
governments' compliance with internationally accepted anti-money laundering standards. The Department of
the Treasury is coordinating this initiative and working with the Departments of State and Justice, the bank
regulators, and the intelligence community to expedite this process.
FinCEN is becoming an international leader in the fight against financial crimes and the corresponding
corruption of international economies. FinCEN supports the G-7 Financial Action Task Force (FATF), which
came under the presidency of the United States for the seventh round (1995-96). In addition, FinCEN
coordinates with financial intelligence units (FIUs) in scores of countries, including Britain, France, Belgium
and Australia. FinCEN is also using its expertise to help establish FIUs worldwide.
- Under FinCEN's leadership, a core group of financial intelligence units (FIUs) met for the first time in Brussels in 1995 and created an organization known as the Egmont Group. This group serves as an international network to
foster improved communication and interaction among FIUs in such areas as information sharing and training coordination. At its November 1996 meeting, Egmont Group members agreed on the definition of an FIU to facilitate the establishment of new units by setting a minimum standard. According to the Egmont Group, an FIU is defined as "a central, national agency responsible for receiving (and, as permitted, requesting), analyzing and disseminating to the competent
authorities, disclosures of financial information: (i) concerning suspected proceeds of crime, or (ii) required by national legislation or regulation, in order to counter money laundering."
- The Financial Action Task Force (FATF) is one of the key organizations that addresses the global problem
of money laundering. Formed by the G-7 Economic Summit in 1989, the FATF is comprised of 26
countries, the European Commission and the Gulf Cooperation Council. It is dedicated to promoting the
development of effective anti-money laundering controls and enhanced cooperation in counter-money
laundering efforts among its membership and around the world.
- In December 1994, President Clinton hosted the Summit of the Americas in Miami, attended by the Heads
of State of 34 nations in the Western Hemisphere. As a result of this conference, the leaders of this
hemisphere's democratic nations directed their governments to work on a cooperative plan to counter the
growing economic and legal problems of money laundering.
http://www.fas.org/irp/agency/ustreas/fincen/ops.htm
Created by John Pike
Maintained by Steven Aftergood
Updated Sunday, August 30, 1998 7:45:07 AM
