Financial Crimes Enforcement Network

Program Summary by Budget Activity

(Dollars in thousands)

Appropriation FY 2010 FY 2011 FY 2012 FY 2010 to FY 2012

Enacted Annualized

CR Level

Request $ Change % Change

 BSA Administration and Analysis $101,694 $101,694 $84,297 ($17,397) (17.1%)

 Regulatory Support Programs $9,316 $9,316 $0 ($9,316) (100.0%)

Subtotal, Financial Crimes Enforcement Network $111,010 $111,010 $84,297 ($26,713) (24.1%)

Offsetting Collections - Reimbursables $20,000 $20,000 $3,000 ($17,000) (85.0%)

Transfers $0 $0 $30,000 $30,000 -

Total Program Operating Level $131,010 $131,010 $117,297 ($13,713) (10.5%)

Direct FTE 331 327 304 (27) (8.2%)

Reimbursable FTE 1 1 1 - -

Total FTE 332 328 305 (27) (8.1%)

In FY 2012, the Regulatory Support Program budget activity is merged into the BSA Administration and Analysis budget activity.

Summary

The mission of FinCEN, a bureau within 

Treasury’s Office of Terrorism and Financial 

Intelligence, is to enhance U.S. national 

security, deter and detect criminal activity, and 

safeguard financial systems from abuse by 

promoting transparency in the U.S. and 

international financial systems. FinCEN 

fulfills its mission, goals and priorities by: 

administering the Bank Secrecy Act (BSA); 

supporting law enforcement, intelligence, and 

regulatory agencies through sharing and 

analysis of financial intelligence; enhancing 

international anti-money laundering and 

counter-terrorist financing efforts and 

cooperation; and networking people, entities, 

ideas, and information.

The following priorities support the Presidential 

goal of encouraging economic growth by 

safeguarding the financial systems from abuse 

and promoting transparency in the U.S. and 

international financial systems. 

• Implement the BSA IT Modernization 

Program, using funds transferred from the 

Treasury Forfeiture Fund; 

• Lead efforts to coordinate federal, state, and 

local efforts to combat fraud; 

• Enhance the BSA regulatory compliance and 

enforcement strategy based on risks 

informed by analysis and law enforcement; 

and 

• Engage with priority countries and 

international bodies to strengthen 

mechanisms for global information 

exchange. 

The total resources required to support 

FinCEN for FY 2012 are $117,297,000 

including $84,297,000 for direct appropriation, 

$3,000,000 from offsetting collections and 

$30,000,000 transferred from the Treasury 

Forfeiture Fund (see Administrative Provision 

Sec. 125) to continue the BSA IT 

modernization program. 
FinCEN FY 2012 Budget Highlights

(Dollars in thousands)

Appropriation Amount

FY 2010 Enacted $111,010

FY 2011 Annualized CR Level $111,010

Changes to Base:

Adjustment to Reach Policy Level: ($11,038)

Adjustment to Reach FY 2011 President's 

Policy Level

($11,038)

Maintaining Current Levels (MCLs): $897

Maintaining Current Levels (MCLs) $897

Efficiencies, Savings & Base Reductions: ($13,570)

Base Reduction to BSA IT Modernization ($10,250)

Regulatory Support Efficiency Savings ($1,017)

Information Technology Efficiency Savings ($1,636)

Staffing Reduction from Attrition ($667)

Subtotal FY 2012 Changes to Base ($23,711)

Total FY 2012 Base $87,299

Program Changes:

Program Decreases: ($3,002)

Reduce Field Law Enforcement Support ($683)

Reduce Intelligence Support to External 

Agencies

($968)

Consolidate State and Local Access to BSA 

Data

($1,351)

Subtotal FY 2012 Program Changes ($3,002)

Total FY 2012 Request $84,297

Transfers $30,000

Total FY 2012 Request (Net) $114,297

FY 2012 Budget Adjustments

FY 2011 Annualized CR Level

The FY 2011 Annualized CR Level for 

FinCEN is $111,010,000.

Adjustment to Reach Policy Level 

Adjustment to Reach FY 2011 President's 

Policy Level -$11,038,000 / +0 FTE 

Adjustment from the FY 2011 Annualized 

Continuing Resolution (CR) Rate to reach the 

FY 2011 President's Policy Level. The 

President's Policy Level is equal to the FY 

2011 President's Budget as adjusted for the 

proposed pay freeze.

Maintaining Current Levels (MCLs) 

Maintaining Current Levels (MCLs) 

+$897,000 / +0 FTE 

Funds are requested for inflation adjustments 

in non-labor expenses such as GSA rent 

adjustments, postage, supplies and equipment 

and health benefits and the increase in Federal 

Employee Retirement System participation. 

No inflation adjustment is requested for pay in 

FY 2012.

Efficiencies, Savings & Base Reductions 

Base Reduction to BSA IT Modernization 

-$10,250,000 / +0 FTE 

BSA IT Modernization program will be 

funded with Forfeiture Fund surplus in FY 

2012, thereby reducing the discretionary 

request by an additional $10.250 million. 

Total project funding remains the same.

Regulatory Support Efficiency Savings 

-$1,017,000 / +0 FTE 

FinCEN will achieve efficiency savings 

through targeted regulatory support efforts, 

centralization of money services business 

(MSB) outreach activities, and change in 

distribution methodology for MSB brochure 

materials. The impact of these reductions will 

be mitigated through future consolidation of 

call centers; centralization of outreach 

activities; additional outreach support by 

FinCEN staff; and greater reliance on 

FinCEN's public website to distribute MSB 

materials, supporting Treasury's paperless 

initiative.

Information Technology Efficiency Savings 

-$1,636,000 / +0 FTE 

In FY 2012, the BSA IT Modernization 

program will roll out new capabilities for BSA 

E-Filing and a new analytical tool. Therefore, 

FinCEN proposes to eliminate development 

funding for stand-alone system enhancements 

that could be rolled into the BSA IT 

Modernization umbrella during FY 2012. 

FinCEN will also achieve efficiencies through 

consolidation of information technology 

contracts, leveraging Treasury strategic 

sourcing initiatives, and other related 

efficiencies.
Staffing Reduction from Attrition -$667,000 / 

-5 FTE 

Reductions were identified from efficiencies 

achieved in administrative staffing support and 

absorption of workload associated with 

positions lost through attrition.

Program Decreases 

Reduce Field Law Enforcement Support 

-$683,000 / -3 FTE 

Reductions are identified from discontinuance 

of a liaison position at the Federal Law 

Enforcement Training Center (FLETC), and 

from decreases in field positions located in 

High Intensity Financial Crime Areas 

(HIFCAs). FinCEN will continue to support 

law enforcement from its headquarters.

Reduce Intelligence Support to External 

Agencies -$968,000 / -6 FTE 

This reduction will reduce analytical support 

to external customers in support of their 

national security, counter terrorism financing, 

and law enforcement matters. FinCEN will 

continue to carry-out limited case support and 

support to FinCEN's analytical initiatives that 

require national security information. FinCEN 

will also provide access to BSA information 

for external agencies through appropriate 

information sharing protocols.

Consolidate State and Local Access to BSA 

Data -$1,351,000 / -9 FTE 

This reduction will limit direct access to BSA 

data to only state coordinators, canceling 142 

current state and local BSA direct access 

agreements for law enforcement and 

regulators. The state coordinators and 

FinCEN analysts would then be asked to 

provide access to the BSA by fulfilling query 

requests from those customers that previously 

had direct access. These actions allow 

FinCEN to reduce training, investigative and 

administrative support to state and local users, 

and inspections and monitoring of BSA data 

for appropriate use.

Transfers 

Proposed Transfer from TFF to Support BSA 

IT Modernization Continuing Efforts 

+$30,000,000 / +0 FTE 

The BSA IT Modernization will be funded 

using a transfer from Treasury Forfeiture Fund 

(see Administrative Provisions Sec. 125) to 

support continuing development and 

maintenance. This transfer allows Treasury to 

use asset forfeiture to support the development 

of a tool that will support law enforcement's 

anti-money laundering and counter-terrorism 

financing efforts.

Explanation of Budget Activities

Salaries and Expenses

BSA Administration and Analysis 

($84,297,000 from direct appropriations, 

$30,000,000 from transfers, and $3,000,000 

from reimbursable programs)

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, with the Internal 

Revenue Service (IRS), managing the 

information filed by the regulated industries, 

as well as BSA compliance of non-bank 

financial institutions. Analytical programs 

include support to U.S. law enforcement and 

international Financial Intelligence Units 

(FIUs) in combating financial fraud and crime 

by facilitating the exchange of investigative 

information; 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. 

Regulatory Support Programs (No funding)

FinCEN is proposing to eliminate the separate 

budget activity for the Regulatory Support 

Program along with the related two year fund 

availability. This program has matured and is 

now an integrated part of FinCEN’s activities, 

thus the separate identification and extended 

funding availability is no longer required.

Legislative Proposals

FinCEN is proposing five technical 

amendments to Titles 31 and 12 that would 

make improvements in four important areas. 

The first amendment provides 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 IRS 

examination as delegated through a 

memorandum of understanding. The second 

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. The 

remaining amendments expand the universe of 

individuals covered by the prohibition on 

Suspicious Activity Report (SAR) disclosures 

and explicitly exempt all BSA data from 

disclosure under any state law or regulation 

providing public access to information. See 

sections 120-124 in the summary of 

appropriations chapter of this document for 

specific changes. 

FinCEN Performance by Budget Activity

Budget Activity Performance Measure FY 2008 FY 2009 FY 2010 FY 2011 FY 2012

Actual Actual Actual Target Target

U.S. & intl financial sys Percentage of Customers Satisfied 

with the BSA E-Filing (Oe)

93.0 94.0 96.0 90.0 92.0

U.S. & intl financial sys Percentage of Domestic Law 

Enforcement and Foreign Financial 

Intelligence Units Finding FinCEN's 

Analytical Reports Highly Valuable

83.0 81.0 80.0 80.0 80.0

U.S. & intl financial sys Percentage of FinCEN's

Regulatory Resource Center 

Customers Rating the Guidance 

Received as Understandable (Oe)

94.0 94.0 92.0 90.0 90.0

Key: Oe - Outcome Measure, E - Efficiency Measure, Ot - Output/Workload Measure, M - Management/Cust. Satisfaction, DISC -

Discontinued, and B - Baseline
Description of Performance

In the regulatory area, FinCEN’s goal to 

provide financial institutions with 

understandable guidance through the BSA 

Resource Center is critical to institutions 

establishing anti-money laundering programs

that comply with the BSA. The FY 2010 goal 

was to maintain a 90 percent satisfaction level 

for customers rating the guidance as 

“understandable,” and FinCEN surpassed its 

goal with 92 percent. 

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 measure closely ties to 

how BSA information is used by law 

enforcement and international FIUs to identify, 

investigate, and prevent abuse of the financial 

system. In FY 2010, 80 percent of the 

respondents rated the analytic products as 

highly valuable. FinCEN narrowly missed its 

target of 81 percent. FinCEN attributes this to 

a need to enhance communication with and 

understanding of law enforcement partners’ 

needs. FinCEN has developed a strategy to 

increase communication with law enforcement 

partners and will continue efforts to ensure its 

products and services meet those needs.

In the efficient management, safeguarding, and 

use of BSA information, FinCEN conducts a 

survey of the users of the BSA E-Filing system 

to determine the overall satisfaction level and 

to identify where improvements are needed. 

The FY 2010 target was to maintain at least a 

90 percent satisfaction level, and FinCEN 

exceeded its target with 96 percent.