Some have also questioned whether the information in the original June 23 , 2006 newspaper articles was even secret , despite its U.S. government classification , because of previous newspaper articles discussing SWIFT . Specifically , a 1998 '' Washington Post '' article , in the wake of the U.S. embassy bombings , mentioned that the " CIA and agents with Treasury 's Financial Crimes Enforcement Network also will try to lay tripwires to find out when bin Laden moves funds by plugging into the computerized systems of bank transaction monitoring services – operated by the Federal Reserve and private organizations called SWIFT and CHIPS – that record the billions of dollars coursing through the global banking system daily . " Also , a September 21 , 2001 '' Baltimore Sun '' article mentioned SWIFT " headquartered in Belgium " and conjectured about the ability of the U.S. National Security Agency " to follow the money through its electronic intercepts of such transactions " . Still others have questioned the secrecy of the TFTP because the Bush administration has made public announcements that it planned to track terrorist-related finances . For example , in a speech shortly after the September 11th attacks , George W. Bush elaborated on the Administration 's intention to track terrorist funding , saying " if financial institutions fail to help us by sharing information or freezing accounts , the Department of the Treasury now has the authority to freeze their bank 's assets and transactions in the United States "
U.S. embassy bombings
1998 United States embassy bombings
Terrorist Finance Tracking Program