Information Technology Management: Observations on the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network's (FinCEN's) BSA Direct Retrieval and Sharing (BSA Direct R&S) Project
Highlights
The Financial Crimes Enforcement Network's (FinCEN) primary function is to support and strengthen domestic and international anti-money laundering efforts through coordination and partnerships. Since its creation in 1990, FinCEN has been responsible for overseeing the management, processing, storage and dissemination of Bank Secrecy Act (BSA) data. In 2004, FinCEN embarked on a major initiative intended to improve the sharing of information reported under the Bank Secrecy Act. BSA Direct is an umbrella project intended to provide secure, user-friendly, web-based tools for accessing, analyzing, and filing BSA data. It is part of a broad effort to reengineer data management responsibilities and transition them from the IRS. During the early spring of 2006, it became clear to FinCEN that the Retrieval and Sharing component of the BSA Direct project (BSA Direct R&S) was not going to meet the critical implementation deadline of June 30, 2006. Because FinCEN has experienced problems with development and implementation of the BSA Direct R&S, Congress asked us about the project's current status and to provide observations on FinCEN's IT investment management practices. Our objectives were to (1) describe BSA Direct R&S and the project's current status; (2) examine FinCEN's application of information technology (IT) investment management processes to the BSA Direct R&S project; and (3) describe, at a high level, the range of options FinCEN may consider as it reexamines the BSA Direct R&S project.
Recommendations
Recommendations for Executive Action
| Agency Affected | Recommendation | Status |
|---|---|---|
| Financial Crimes Enforcement Network | In light of the issues experienced on the BSA Direct R&S project, the Director of FinCEN should direct the Chief Information Officer (CIO) to develop a plan for improving the agency's capabilities for overseeing the BSA Direct project. The plan should focus in particular on establishing policies and procedures for executives to regularly review investments' progress against commitments and take corrective actions when these commitments are not met. In addition, the plan should (1) specify measurable goals, objectives, and milestones; (2) specify needed resources; (3) assign clear responsibility and accountability for accomplishing tasks; and (4) be approved by the Director of FinCEN. In implementing the plan, the FinCEN CIO should report progress against expectations to the FinCEN Director and take appropriate actions to address deviations. |
On July 13, 2006, FinCEN announced it would permanently halt the Bank Secrecy Act (BSA) Direct Retrieval and Sharing Component Project. According to the FinCEN liaison, the agency terminated the contract for its development and the BSA Direct Project no longer exists. Further, the agency plans no additional action.
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