Money Laundering: FinCEN's Law Enforcement Support Role Is Evolving
GGD-98-117
Published: Jun 19, 1998. Publicly Released: Jun 19, 1998.
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Highlights
Pursuant to a congressional request, GAO reviewed the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network's (FinCEN) products and services in support of law enforcement, focusing on: (1) trends in the types and quantities of products and services provided by FinCEN to the law enforcement community; (2) the extent to which FinCEN's products and services have been considered useful by the law enforcement community in identifying, developing, or prosecuting money laundering and other financial crime cases; (3) the extent to which FinCEN evaluates the states' compliance with applicable controls over access to and use of information when state law enforcement officials directly access FinCEN's resources; and (4) FinCEN's efforts to provide Internal Revenue Service (IRS) Form 8300 information to the law enforcement community.
Recommendations
Recommendations for Executive Action
| Agency Affected | Recommendation | Status |
|---|---|---|
| Department of the Treasury | The Secretary of the Treasury should take action to identify and resolve any administrative issues related to FinCEN's dissemination of Form 8300 information to the law enforcement community. |
Closed – Not Implemented
Reportedly, consideration of the matter at Treasury was postponed pending completion of the general studies of the confidentiality of tax return information called for by section 3802 of the Internal Revenue Service Restructuring and Reform Act of 1998. Those studies were to be conducted separately by the Joint Committee on Taxation and the Department of the Treasury and were expected to be completed during 2000. However, as of July 2003, no action had been taken on the GAO recommendation. Update (June 24, 2009): No action taken or likely to be taken.
|
| Department of the Treasury | If FinCEN is given approval to disseminate Form 8300 information, the Secretary of the Treasury should, prior to such dissemination, ensure that sufficient access and disclosure controls over FinCEN's programs and systems are in place and operating as intended. That is, these controls should be sufficient to protect against unauthorized access to and disclosure of sensitive information. |
Closed – Not Implemented
Further consideration of the matter at Treasury has been postponed pending completion of the general studies of the confidentiality of tax return information called for by section 3802 of the Internal Revenue Service Restructuring and Reform Act of 1998. Those studies are being conducted separately by the Joint Committee on Taxation and the Department of the Treasury. They are yet to be completed. No action taken or likely to be taken.
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| Financial Crimes Enforcement Network | The Acting Director, FinCEN, should incorporate into the agency's communications with potential customers general criteria or guidance on the types of cases that FinCEN can best support and the most appropriate uses of FinCEN's capabilities. At a minimum, for example, such criteria or guidance could be included in information on FinCEN's site on the Internet. |
Closed – Implemented
In response to GAO's work, to more widely communicate its capabilities to potential customers, FinCEN updated its Internet site to include information on the types of support it provides to the law enforcement community and to offer viewers the opportunity to send comments or questions via electronic mail.
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| Financial Crimes Enforcement Network | The Acting Director, FinCEN, should develop and implement a program for on-site evaluations of the states' compliance with control policies and procedures related to Project Gateway. Such a program should include periodic testing of the controls and summary reports for management attention. |
Closed – Implemented
FinCEN published a Gateway Coordinators Handbook, developed a plan for randomly auditing states, and developed guidelines for staff to use in reviewing the compliance of state coordinators.
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Topics
Banking lawTerroristsConfidential communicationsFinancial recordsIntergovernmental relationsInternal controlsLaw enforcementLaw enforcement agenciesLaw enforcement information systemsMoney laundering