Financial Crimes Enforcement Network

Program Summary by Budget Activity

Dollars in Thousands

FY 2019 FY 2020 FY 2021 FY 2020 to FY 2021

Budget Activity Operating Plan Enacted Request $ Change % Change

BSA Administration and Analysis $117,800 $126,000 $126,963 $963 0.76%

Subtotal, Organization Title $117,800 $126,000 $126,963 $963 0.76%

Offsetting Collections - Reimbursable $1,771 $3,000 $3,000 $0 0.00%

Recovery from Prior Years $34 $500 $500 $0 0.00%

Unobligated Balances Brought Forward $37,967 $27,000 $28,000 $1,000 3.70%

Total Program Operating Level $157,572 $156,500 $158,463 $1,963 1.25%

Direct FTE 271 300 345 45 15.00%

Reimbursable FTE 2 1 1 0 0.00%

Total Full-time Equivalents (FTE) 273 301 346 45 14.95%

Summary

The mission of FinCEN is to safeguard the financial system from illicit use, combat money 

laundering, and promote national security through the strategic use of financial authorities and 

the collection, analysis, and dissemination of financial intelligence. The FY 2021 President’s 

Budget requests additional resources totaling $963,000 and provides $2,300,000 for two critical 

program areas and program decreases totaling $2,864,000. Specifically, FinCEN will enhance 

its national security capacity, which includes continuous expansion of its efforts to combat 

cybercrime and cryptocurrency threats and strengthening the inspection and training efforts to 

ensure the proper stewardship and on-going protection of sensitive national security information.

Budget Highlights

Dollars in Thousands

FTE Amount

FY 2020 Enacted 300 $126,000 

Changes to Base:

Maintaining Current Levels (MCLs): 0 $2,827 

Pay Annualization (2020 3.1% average pay raise) 0 $380 

Pay Raise (1.0% average pay raise) 0 $390 

FERS Contribution Increase 0 $524 

Non-Pay 0 $1,533 

Non-Recurring Costs 0 ($1,300)

TBML Risk Assessment 0 ($1,300)

Other Adjustments: 37 $0 

Technical FTE Adjustment 37 $0 

Subtotal Changes to Base 37 $1,527 

FY 2021 Current Services 337 $127,527 

Program Changes:

Program Decreases 0 ($2,864)

Programmatic Contract and Equipment Reductions 0 ($2,864)

Program Increases: 8 $2,300 

Bolstering BSA Data Protection 5 $1,481 

Building Out FinCEN's Virtual Currency and Cyber 

Threat Mitigation Program 3 $819 

FY 2021 President's Budget Request 345 $126,963 
Budget Adjustments

Maintaining Current Levels (MCLs).......................................... +$2,827,000 / +0 FTE

Pay Annualization (3.1%) +$380,000 / +0 FTE

Funds are requested for annualization of the January 2020 3.1% average pay raise.

Pay Raise (1.0% in 2021) +$390,000 / +0 FTE

Funds are requested for a 1.0% average pay raise in January 2021.

FERS Contribution Increase +$524,000 / +0 FTE

Funds are requested for the Federal Employee Retirement System (FERS) contribution rates 

effective FY 2021.

Non-Pay +$1,533,000 / +0 FTE

Funds are requested for non-labor expenses such as travel, contracts, rent, supplies, and 

equipment.

Non-Recurring Costs............................................................... -$1,300,000 / -0 FTE

TBML Risk Assessment -$1,300,000 / -0 FTE

Completion of Trade-Based Money Laundering (TBML) risk assessment.

Other Adjustments....................................................................... +$0 / +37 FTE

Technical FTE Adjustment +$0 / +37 FTE

This adjustment reflects FTEs in FinCEN’s multi-year hiring plan, which is beginning 

implementation in FY 2020.

Program Decreases............................................................... -$2,864,000 / -0 FTE

Programmatic Contract and Equipment Reductions -$2,864,000 / -0 FTE

This reduction will be taken through evaluation of increases or changes in proposed acquisitions 

of contractual services and equipment. FinCEN will evaluate contracts during the renewal 

process to absorb this reduction.

Program Increases............................................................... +2,300,000 / +8 FTE

Bolstering BSA Data Protection +$1,481,000 / +5 FTE

This funding will allow FinCEN to support an enhancement in Bank Secrecy Act (BSA) data 

inspections and training efforts. In order to bolster the ability to protect BSA data collected, 

FinCEN will strengthen its inspections program to include internal, external, and bulk data 

usage; enhance its proactive engagement for preventative measures; and increase education and 

training efforts for the over 460 federal, state, and local agencies across the country with whom 

FinCEN maintains data access Memoranda of Understanding (MOUs) and their over 12,700 

authorized users. 

Safeguarding the BSA database from misuse is a critical obligation, and with additional funding, 

FinCEN will move to a primarily on-site inspection posture to enhance our visibility into 

individual agencies’ compliance with the obligations set forth in their MOUs. 
In addition to expanding FinCEN’s capabilities to inspect data access activities, there is also a 

need to increase the training and outreach initiatives. FinCEN expects BSA data access MOUs

to steadily increase annually. Furthermore, FinCEN receives on average 120 access requests per 

year. As we anticipate an increase in MOUs in the future commensurate with historical growth 

patterns, there is a need for more training resources to cover BSA data security and proper use of 

BSA data for the corresponding increase in users. In order for FinCEN to keep up with the 

increasing needs of our stakeholders, we must be readily available to conduct substantive 

outreach and provide comprehensive financial analysis training. Additional funding will also 

increase FinCEN’s ability to provide on-going, substantive training and outreach to our law 

enforcement partners on myriad issues of national security importance in an effort to increase 

their awareness and enhance their traditional methods of utilizing the BSA to investigate illicit 

finance. As investigators become more adept at manipulating BSA data, more sophisticated 

cases of criminal wrongdoing will be brought to justice. Additionally, more meaningful 

feedback provided to regulated institutions that are subject to BSA reporting requirements 

ultimately lends to better reporting by the institutions themselves . 

Lastly, increased access to BSA data creates increased risk of improper use of the data, including 

unauthorized disclosures. Training addresses this knowledge gap for stakeholders and assists 

them in effectively manipulating the BSA data to properly support their investigations. These 

additional resources will allow FinCEN to ensure all of its users are fulfilling their responsibility 

to properly use and protect BSA data. 

Building Out FinCEN’s Virtual Currency and Cyber Threat Mitigation Program +$819,000 / +3 

FTE 

These funds will allow for international capacity building to ensure that accessibility of critical 

information exists for investigations that include an international component. The utilization of 

software tools will allow FinCEN to double the number of virtual currencies analyses, 

corroborate findings, and increase big data analytics capability, allowing for automated analytics 

and visualization of financial and cyber data. The program enhancement strengthens direct 

support for law enforcement cases to 130 cases per year, the development of 37 strategic 

intelligence products, and the provision of 50 training sessions per year.

The FY 2021 funds will also allow FinCEN to respond to an increasing number of law 

enforcement requests for operational support regarding domestic and global cyber-enabled 

financial crimes, including efforts into the use of virtual currency to facilitate such crimes. This 

will enable FinCEN to conduct intelligence and law-enforcement driven responses to 

international and domestic financial threat incidents. The enhancement will also assist FinCEN’s 

ongoing efforts to recover funds stolen by cyber means in fraud and virtual currency exchange 

thefts. Based on metrics developed by law enforcement partners, FinCEN estimates that it will 

be able to recover approximately 60 percent of funds stolen domestically and maintain its current 

international recovery rate at 50 percent. 

Lastly, the funding will directly support FinCEN’s coordination with other international 

jurisdictions as they advance their efforts to establish their own capabilities to address virtual 

currency and cyber threats through training and capacity building, analytical development, and 

information sharing initiatives. 
Legislative Proposals 

FinCen has no legislative proposals. 

Performance Highlights

FY 2017 FY 2018 FY 2019 FY 2020 FY 2021

Budget Activity Performance Measure Actual Actual Actual Target Target

BSA Administration and Analysis

Percentage of Domestic 

Law Enforcement and 

Regulators Who Assert 

Queried BSA Data Led to 

Detection and Deterrence 

of Illicit Activity

86% 85% 92% 88% 89%

BSA Administration and Analysis

Percentage of Users 

Satisfied with FinCEN 

Information Sharing 

Systems

87% 86% 89% 84% 85%

Description of Performance

The continued increase in valuable BSA data demands the continued expansion of analysis 

capability and supporting technology to utilize this data to its full capacity. The increases in 

BSA data and the demand for this data informed the requested program changes. 

FinCEN conducts annual surveys of the BSA database and information sharing systems’ users on 

the utility and value of FinCEN’s information, analysis, and systems. The results provide 

valuable feedback on FinCEN’s performance safeguarding the financial system from illicit use, 

combatting money laundering, and promoting national security. 

FinCEN monitors the percentage of domestic law enforcement and regulators who assert queried 

BSA data led to detection and deterrence of illicit activity. The survey looks at the value of 

FinCEN data, such as whether the data provided unknown information; supplemented or 

expanded known information; verified information, helped identify new leads; opened a new 

investigation or examination; supported an existing investigation or examination; or, provided 

information for an investigative or examination report. In FY 2019, FinCEN surpassed its target 

of 86 percent with 92 percent asserting that the queried BSA data led to the detection and 

deterrence of illicit activity. FinCEN achieved this performance by increasing its FinCEN Portal 

and Query training efforts. FinCEN will continue to increase its training efforts to provide the 

FinCEN Portal and FinCEN Query user community with the information they need to 

successfully enhance their investigative efforts. In FY 2020, the target is set at 88 percent and in 

FY 2021 at 89 percent.

FinCEN also tracks the percentage of users satisfied with FinCEN information sharing systems. 

This measure is based on survey responses and represents user satisfaction with the BSA EFiling System, FinCEN Query, and the Egmont Secure Web. FinCEN collects and maintains 

BSA reports filed by financial institutions and other filers. In turn, FinCEN provides authorized 

users (including Treasury and the Under Secretary for Terrorism and Financial Intelligence) 

access to a query system containing 14 years of BSA data. FinCEN also provides foreign 

Financial Intelligence Units (FIUs) in the Egmont Group with a secure system for exchanging 

financial intelligence to combat money laundering and terrorist financing. This measure is 
meaningful because the information sharing system allows authorized persons to more readily 

access BSA information and better enable them to conduct investigations more efficiently and 

effectively. In FY 2019, FinCEN exceeded its target of 84 percent with 89 percent of the users 

satisfied with the information sharing systems. FinCEN attributes this performance to the 

increased satisfaction with the value of BSA information in FinCEN Query, as well as improved 

system stability. FinCEN is currently undergoing a technical refresh of the FinCEN Portal and 

FinCEN Query applications, which will be implemented in mid FY 2020. As such, FinCEN will 

keep the target at 84 percent due to the learning curve associated with these changes. FinCEN 

expects the target to slightly increase to 85 percent in FY 2021.