Financial Crimes Enforcement Network

Program Summary by Budget Activity

Dollars in thousands

Appropriation FY 2012 FY 2013 FY 2014 FY 2012 TO FY 2014

 Enacted Annualized CR 

Rate Request $ Change % Change

BSA Administration and Analysis $110,788 $111,466 $103,909 ($6,879) (6.21%)

Subtotal, Financial Crimes Enforcement 

Network $110,788 $111,466 $103,909 ($6,879) (6.21%)

Offsetting Collections - Reimbursables $3,000 $3,000 $3,000 $0 0.00%

Total Program Operating Level $113,788 $114,466 $106,909 ($6,879) (6.05%)

Direct FTE 327 345 340 13 3.98%

Reimbursable FTE 1 1 1 0 0.00%

Total FTE 328 346 341 13 3.96%

Summary

The mission of FinCEN, a Treasury bureau 

reporting to the Under Secretary for Terrorism 

and Financial Intelligence, is to safeguard the 

financial system from illicit use and combat 

money laundering and promote national 

security through the collection, analysis, and 

dissemination of financial intelligence and 

strategic use of financial authorities. FinCEN 

carries out its mission by exercising regulatory 

functions under the Bank Secrecy Act (BSA); 

targeting examination and enforcement efforts 

in high risk areas; receiving and maintaining 

financial transaction data; analyzing and 

disseminating that data for law enforcement 

purposes; and building global cooperation with 

counterpart organizations in other countries 

and with international bodies. FinCEN serves 

as the financial intelligence unit (FIU) of the 

United States, responsible for receiving, 

analyzing, and disseminating disclosures of 

financial information in order to combat 

money laundering and terrorism financing.

In FY 2013 and FY 2014, FinCEN‟s priorities 

are to: 

• Advance enforcement efforts and 

targeted financial actions by better 

identifying targets and risks to identify 

illicit finance;

• Enhance regulatory compliance and 

enforcement through increased 

partnership with state regulatory agencies, 

strengthened relationships with law 

enforcement, and utilization of

modernized technology to improve 

compliance risk targeting;

• Support criminal investigations and 

prosecutions through financial expertise 

and advanced analytical tools across large 

data sets;

• Engage with priority countries and 

international bodies to maintain global 

information exchange of financial 

intelligence in support of financial crime 

investigations; and

• Efficiently manage the collection, 

processing, and retrieval of FinCEN data 

under the IT Modernization program.
FinCEN FY 2014 Budget Highlights

Dollars in Thousands

Financial Crimes Enforcement Network 

FTE

 

Amount

FY 2012 Enacted 327 $110,788

FY 2013 Annualized CR Rate 345 $111,466

Changes to Base:

Adjustment to Request (5) ($6,124)

Non-Recur CR Increase - ($678)

Administrative staffing savings proposed 

in FY 2013 - ($1,501)

Program Staff Attrition (5) ($1,010)

Reduction to IT MOD Investment - ($1,800)

Reduction to Contractual Analytical 

Support 

- ($1,135)

Maintaining Current Levels (MCLs): - $1,306

Pay-Raise - $407

Non-Pay - $899

Efficiency Savings: - ($2,739)

Contract Efficiencies - ($534)

Administrative Efficiencies - ($1,280)

Eliminate Information Technology Legacy 

Systems - ($925)

Subtotal Changes to Base (5) ($7,557)

Total FY 2014 Base 340 $103,909

Program Changes:

Program Increases: - -

Total FY 2014 Request 340 $103,909

FY 2014 Budget Adjustments

Adjustment to Request

Non-Recur CR Increase -$678,000 / +0 FTE

The across-the-board 0.612 percent increase 

provided in the CR through March 27, 2013 is 

non-recurred.

Administrative staffing savings proposed in FY 

2013 -$1,501,000 / +0 FTE

These staffing efficiencies were previously 

proposed in the FY 2013 President‟s Budget 

and were achieved through absorption of 

workload associated with eight positions lost 

through attrition and using a cross service 

provider, where cost effective.

Program Staff Attrition -$1,010,000 / -5 FTE

This reduction will be taken across several 

FinCEN program areas. FinCEN will evaluate 

open positions for possible absorption of 

workload associated with positions lost 

through attrition.

Reduction to IT MOD Investment -$1,800,000 

/ +0 FTE

This reduction eliminates funding used in FY 

2013 for BSA IT Modernization to expand the 

number of recurring rule-based „alert‟ 

notifications. The BSA IT Modernization 

“Alerts” functionality provides the capability 

to proactively identify potential illicit activity

for investigation. As new BSA filings are 

received, data is evaluated through statistical 

and rule-based models, allowing the system to 

automatically identify patterns and send alerts 

to analysts.

Reduction to Contractual Analytical Support -

$1,135,000 / +0 FTE

Taking into account the decrease in IT 

Modernization investment, this reduction 

eliminates funding used in FY 2013 to 

enhance FinCEN‟s advanced analytical 

capabilities in conjunction with BSA IT

Modernization. Specifically, this decrease 

eliminates contract resources (computer 

specialists, econometrists, and statisticians) 

that assisted FinCEN analysts in developing 

new rule-based models to identify illicit 

activity.

Maintaining Current Levels (MCLs) 

Pay-Raise +$407,000 / +0 FTE

The President's Budget proposes a 1 percent 

payraise for federal employees in 2014.

Non-Pay +$899,000 / +0 FTE

Funds are requested for inflation adjustments 

in non-labor expenses such as GSA rent 

adjustments, postage, supplies and equipment, 

and health benefits.

Efficiency Savings

Contract Efficiencies -$534,000 / +0 FTE

Savings are expected to result from continued 

re-evaluation of purchase orders for strategic 

sourcing opportunities and through continued 

efforts to negotiate more advantageous 

contract terms.
Administrative Efficiencies -$1,280,000 / +0 

FTE

FinCEN proposes additional reductions in FY 

2014 in line with Executive Order 13589, 

"Promoting Efficient Spending." FinCEN will 

achieve savings through a change in 

distribution methodology for various 

brochures and reports, and greater reliance on

FinCEN‟s public website for the distribution. 

FinCEN will also reduce the level of support 

on existing management support services 

contracts as BSA IT Modernization moves into 

the sustainment phase.

Eliminate Information Technology Legacy 

Systems -$925,000 / +0 FTE

This reduction eliminates funding of legacy 

systems replaced by BSA IT Modernization to 

include Secure Outreach system and Visual 

Links analytic tool. In 2013, FinCEN rolled

out new capabilities for the BSA basic query 

system and new advanced analytics 

capabilities, allowing elimination of this 

funding.

Explanation of Budget Activities

BSA Administration and Analysis 

($103,909,000 from direct appropriations, 

$3,000,000 from reimbursable resources)

The programs funded by this budget activity 

support the Treasury strategic goal to protect 

our national security through targeted financial 

actions. This activity comprises FinCEN‟s 

efforts to administer the BSA, including 

promulgating regulations; providing outreach 

and issuing guidance to the regulated 

industries; providing oversight of BSA 

compliance; initiating enforcement actions; 

and managing the information reported by the 

regulated industries, as well as BSA 

compliance of non-bank financial institutions. 

Enforcement programs employ an intelligencedriven approach to target examination efforts 

in high-risk areas; proactively investigate and 

exercise the full range of FinCEN authorities 

to disrupt the illicit use of the financial system 

by priority targets; and use effective and 

proportionate measures to enforce compliance 

with the BSA. These measures may include 

compliance letters, civil money penalties, 

injunctive actions, and special measures.

Analytical programs include support to U.S. 

law enforcement and international FIUs in 

combating financial fraud and crime by 

facilitating the exchange of investigative 

information, including with foreign 

counterpart FIUs; identifying foreign and 

domestic financial fraud, money laundering, 

and terrorist financing trends, patterns, and 

techniques; and liaison with and support of 

intelligence initiatives within the intelligence 

community and within Treasury. This activity 

also incorporates efforts to support large-scale, 

complex law enforcement investigations 

involving financial fraud, terrorist financing, 

money laundering, and other financial crimes. 

Global programs include support to 

international initiatives to educate other 

jurisdictions about the BSA regulatory regime; 

work to establish international anti-money 

laundering/counter-terrorist financing 

regulatory standards and norms; and efforts to 

improve the expertise and capabilities of 

personnel with anti-money laundering/counterterrorist financing missions. 

As administrator of the BSA, FinCEN must 

ensure the effective management, accessibility, 

dissemination, and use of the highly sensitive 

confidential information collected under the

Act. FinCEN provides authorized law 

enforcement, regulatory, and intelligence 

agencies direct access to BSA information.

Other Resources: Offsetting collections and 

reimbursements totaling $3,000,000 are 

collected from other agencies, including the 

Department of State for assistance to 

international partners, the Department of 

Defense for support of U.S. efforts in 

Afghanistan, and the Treasury Executive 

Office of Asset Forfeiture for projects to better 
support law enforcement. The goal owner for 

this budget activity is the Director of FinCEN, 

Jennifer Shasky Calvery

Legislative Proposals

FinCEN is proposing three technical 

amendments to Titles 31 and 12 that would 

make improvements in two important 

areas. The first and second amendments 

provide authority to rely on examinations 

conducted by state supervisory agencies for 

nonbank financial institutions lacking a federal 

regulator, which would capture most nonbank 

financial institutions currently subject to 

Internal Revenue Service (IRS) examination as 

delegated through a memorandum of 

understanding (MOU). The third amendment 

increases information sharing between 

FinCEN and counterpart anti-money 

laundering/counter-terrorist financing 

regulators. Specifically, this amendment 

provides consistency between how FinCEN 

shares information in its capacity as a 

regulator and information sharing that 

currently exists between federal financial 

regulators and their foreign counterparts.

FinCEN Performance by Budget Activity

Budget Activity Performance Measure FY 2010 FY 2011 FY 2012 FY 2013 FY 2014

Actual Actual Actual Target Target

BSA Administration and Analysis Percentage of customers finding 

the FinCEN data provides valuable 

information towards the detection 

and deterrence of financial crime

87.0 89.0 90.0 90.0 90.0

BSA Administration and Analysis Percentage of domestic law 

enforcement finding FinCEN's 

analytic reports contribute to the 

detection and deterrence of 

financial crime

80.0 86.0 83.0 83.0 83.0

BSA Administration and Analysis Percentage of foreign FIUs finding 

FinCEN's analytic reports provide 

valuable information towards the 

detection and deterrence of 

financial crime

90.0 92.0 82.0 85.0 87.0

BSA Administration and Analysis Percentage of regulatory helpline 

customers understanding BSA 

guidance

92.0 92.0 89.0 90.0 90.0

Key: DISC - Discontinued and B - Baseline

Description of Performance

In the regulatory area, FinCEN‟s goal to 

provide financial institutions with 

understandable guidance is critical to 

institutions establishing anti-money laundering 

programs that comply with FinCEN‟s 

regulations. In FY 2012, FinCEN‟s goal was

to maintain a 90 percent satisfaction level, and 

FinCEN narrowly missed this target with 89

percent due to resource demands associated 

with a significant increase in call volume. 

In the analytical area, FinCEN supports 

domestic law enforcement and international 

FIU partners by providing analyses of BSA 

information and measures the percentage of 

customers finding FinCEN‟s analytic reports 

highly valuable. The following two measures 

closely tie to how BSA information is used by 
law enforcement and foreign FIUs to identify, 

investigate, and prevent abuse of the financial 

system. The first measure looks at the value 

provided to the domestic law enforcement 

community. In FY 2012, FinCEN met its 

target of 80 percent with 83 percent of 

domestic law enforcement finding the reports 

valuable. 

The second measure tracks the value of 

analytic reports to foreign FIUs. In FY 2012, 

82 percent found the analytic reports valuable. 

FinCEN did not meet the target of 90 percent 

due to a decrease in the number of FIU 

customers indicating that FinCEN provided 

new information relevant to their 

investigations. FinCEN will continue to seek 

ways to meet this demand.

To determine the success of the goal to 

provide useful data, FinCEN tracks the value 

of the FinCEN data to law enforcement and 

regulatory agency users with direct access to 

the data. 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, and 

provided information for an investigative or 

examination report. In FY 2012, FinCEN 

surpassed its target of 86 percent with 90 

percent of customers finding the FinCEN data 

provides valuable information.