News
Proposed FinCEN Cuts Destructive, Says New York Prosecutor
By Kieran Beer
printThe U.S. Treasury Department budgetary proposal to end direct access to its Bank Secrecy Act database by 142 law enforcement agencies would have a "destructive effect" on investigations by New York City's top prosecutor, a former Justice Department official said Thursday. The cost-cutting, made by the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN) in its fiscal year 2012 budget proposal, would undermine a core function of the bureau, said Richard Weber, deputy chief of the Manhattan District Attorney's office and the former chief of the U.S. Justice Department's Asset Forfeiture and Money Laundering Section. While the plan would trim approximately $1.3 million...
TO READ THE FULL STORY
Related News
In the wake of the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks, the U.S. Treasury Department's financial intelligence unit had one overriding objective: to better share its cache of Bank Secrecy Act data with investigators.
Federal officials will work to "mitigate the effect" of a proposed budget cut that would limit law enforcement access to Bank Secrecy Act data, U.S. Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner said Tuesday.
A proposed funding cut that would restrict some governmental access to a U.S. Bank Secrecy Act database could also make it harder for state examiners to vet banks and money services businesses, say critics of the plan.
The proposed cancellation of 142 federal bank data sharing agreements with state and local law enforcement agencies would not impact financial crime investigations, U.S. Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner said Wednesday.
A planned cost-saving rollback of 142 federal bank data sharing agreements would hinder state and local investigations into suspected money laundering and terrorist financing, according to former law enforcement agents.
The U.S. Treasury Department's budget would see a four percent increase over last year's funding under a White House proposal scheduled to take effect in October.
The chief investigator of sanctions violations at Lloyds TSB Bank and Credit Suisse speaks with Editor-in-Chief Kieran Beer about the unprecedented penalties and the need for federal beneficial ownership legislation.