Pursuant to a congressional request, GAO provided information on the international travel of all the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN) staff in recent years.

GAO noted that: (1) the international travel data provided by FinCEN show that during the period May 1994 through April 1998, FinCEN staff took a total of 362 international trips, covering a total of 2,435 days in travel status, accounting for a total of 3,146 staff travel days, and costing about $1.2 million; (2) the number of FinCEN staff taking these international trips varied from one to as many as six; and (3) according to FinCEN, over 80 percent of FinCEN's international travel is conducted by the 28-member staff of the Office of International Programs, whose functions include coordinating and providing training and technical assistance to partner nations seeking to develop effective anti-money laundering systems.