What is the FinCEN?

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Key Information About Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN):

  • Formed: April 25, 1990
  • Headquarters: Vienna, Virginia
  • Agency executive:   Director, Ken Blanco
  • Parent agency: Office of Terrorism and Financial Intelligence


Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN), established on April 25, 1990, serves as the Financial Intelligence Unit of the United States of America at home and abroad. Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (Fincen) is an authorized body of the Treasury Department to combat financial crimes in the USA. FinCEN collects and examines financial transactions to prevent money laundering, terrorist financing, and other financial crimes. 


The Mission of Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN)

The Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (Fincen) protects the financial system and financial services from organized crime organizations and effectively combat money laundering. Besides, FinCEN aims to facilitate the detection of financial crimes by increasing the financial sector's integrity.


What does FinCEN do?

FinCEN examines reports from financial institutions to check whether money laundering or terrorist financing crimes have been committed. FinCEN also works to take action by informing financial institutions about suspects and suspicious activities. FinCEN's field of activity is vast. FinCEN aims to detect and prevent all illegal transactions from the most complicated crime to the most straightforward crime. With the USA Patriot Act, which came into force in 2001, FinCEN has become a significant US authority, investigating people with increased powers and suspected money laundering and terrorist financing. 


Responsibilities of Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN)

  • FinCEN audits anti-money laundering and Countering the financing of terrorism compliance of regulated organizations.
  • FinCEN regulates and interprets AML / CFT regulations.
  • FinCEN examines Suspicious Activity Reports.
  • FinCEN determines and regulates the reporting requirements that companies must meet.
  • FinCEN supports law enforcement investigations and prosecutions.
  • FinCEN reports to the Ministry of Treasury.
  • FinCEN shares information with international Financial Intelligence Units.
  • FinCEN detects and measures local and global financial crime threats.


What are the FinCEN Requirements?

Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN), the Financial Intelligence Unit of the United States, gives financial institutions some responsibilities and obligations to detect and prevent financial crimes. Some obligations that financial institutions must fulfill are listed below.

  1. Financial institutions should ensure customer identification through Know Your Customer procedures during the customer account opening processes.
  2. Financial institutions have to determine the customer risk level with Customer Due Diligence and Enhanced Due Diligence procedures.
  3. Financial institutions must comply with anti-money laundering laws.
  4. Financial institutions are required to report to FinCEN in doubtful situations.
  5. Financial institutions must share all information about the people requested by FinCEN with FinCEN.
  6. Financial institutions are required to keep customer information and account transactions for a certain period of time.
  7. Financial institutions are obliged to cancel the financial transactions of those who the United States has sanctioned.
  8. Financial institutions have to scan their customers in sanction lists, starting with the customer onboarding sanctioned persons' transaction sanctions.


Financial institutions operating in the United States have to comply with relevant AML regulations and laws. Accordingly, financial institutions are required to follow the FinCEN regulations and fulfill their obligations strictly. FinCEN fines organizations that do not meet their AML and CFT obligations. Sanction Scanner provides solutions that enable financial institutions to comply with AML regulations. Financial institutions operating in the USA can fulfill their Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN) and Bank Secrecy Act obligations with the Sanction Scanner. You can check your customers with Sanction Scanner's global sanction data and detect the people who are sanctioned. You can automate your compliance processes with API integration and reduce your workload. You can contact us for information about our AML compliance solutions.



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