On March 30, FinCEN published a proposed rule in the Federal Register to establish a whistleblower program incentivizing tips on fraud-related violations of the Bank Secrecy Act, U.S. sanctions, and the Anti-Money Laundering Act. The regulations arrived more than 5 years after the program’s legislative creation. Whistleblower advocates have already expressed major concerns.
These regulations are long overdue; They were codified by the Anti-Money Laundering Act (2020) and the Anti-Money Laundering Whistleblower Improvement Act (2022), but have not yet been fully implemented. This notice follows longstanding bipartisan pressure for FinCEN to use whistleblowers to enforce sanctions, anti-money laundering laws, and protect national security. The proposed regulations will finally fulfill these mandates.
The proposal outlines how whistleblowers can report violations promptly and securely, while detailing the award application process and eligibility criteria for making and adjudicating awards. Like the SEC’s program, whistleblowers may receive 10–30 percent of penalties collected if their tip leads to action by the Treasury or the Department of Justice. FinCEN recently launched a whistleblower portal, a major step after years of accepting tips without a dedicated public website.
While FinCEN’s long-awaited regulations are a small step towards making the program more accessible, advocates expressed heightened caution about the risk to whistleblowers’ safety and questioned...
A heartbroken former teacher's life was ruined by false allegations of sexual misconduct as he reveals his 'nightmare' court fight to clear his name. Ian Fry, a former teacher at Malvern St James,...