Money Laundering: FinCEN Needs to Better Manage Bank Secrecy Act Civil Penalty Cases
GGD-98-108
Published: Jun 15, 1998. Publicly Released: Jun 15, 1998.
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Highlights
Pursuant to a congressional request, GAO reviewed the Department of the Treasury's Financial Crimes Enforcement Network's (FinCEN) efforts to process civil penalty referrals for violations of the Bank Secrecy Act (BSA), focusing on: (1) whether Treasury has changed its policies and procedures for processing civil penalty cases since 1992; (2) Treasury's performance in processing civil penalty cases during calender years 1992 through 1997; and (3) the status of FinCEN's efforts to develop and issue a final regulation delegating the authority to assess civil penalties for BSA violations to the federal banking regulatory agencies, as required by the Money Laundering Suppression Act.
Recommendations
Recommendations for Executive Action
| Agency Affected | Recommendation | Status |
|---|---|---|
| Financial Crimes Enforcement Network | To reduce the lengthy processing times associated with civil penalties, the Acting Director, FinCEN, should set average timeliness goals for evaluating and disposing of civil penalty cases, taking into account the varying complexity of the cases, and monitor the progress of managers and staff responsible for meeting those goals. Setting and managing to meet such goals should help FinCEN better focus its attention on processing civil penalty cases and provide a means to determine what corrective actions might be needed to decrease processing times in the future. |
On June 29, 1998, the Acting Director, FinCEN, informed the Chairman, House Banking and Financial Services, Subcommittee on General Oversight and Investigations, that FinCEN had revised its procedures to "establish strict timelines for processing all incoming items and civil penalty referrals and incorporate increased management oversight of the process." Additionally, the Acting Director noted that, both before and after the April 1, 1998, congressional hearing, FinCEN had taken steps to address this problem and, as of June 26, 1998, the inventory of cases had been reduced to about 70 cases, down significantly from the 1997 calendar yearend total of 133.
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Topics
Banking lawBanking regulationFines (penalties)Law enforcementMoney launderingPerformance measuresStatutory limitationWhite collar crimeFinancial institutionsUntimely protests