While the reasons for the decreases varied, one significant factor cited by FinCEN was that it assigned fewer staff to support these activities. According to the FinCEN official, although the agency’s overall staff levels have remained fairly constant over the years, many tactical staff have been reassigned to support FinCEN’s expanded mission, which includes (1) responsibility for promulgating BSA regulations and (2) a leadership role in international efforts to combat money laundering. Further, according to the federal and state officials we interviewed, the platform concept and Project Gateway are excellent tools for helping agencies combat money laundering and other financial crimes. The survey results indicated that FinCEN’s tactical products assisted law enforcement investigations in various ways. States’ Compliance With Controls Not Evaluated

FinCEN has not evaluated the states’ compliance with specified policies and procedures designed to control access to and use of information obtained through the Gateway system. Several Issues Must Still Be Resolved Before FinCEN Can Obtain Approval to Disseminate Form 8300 Information

Although IRS has taken measures to provide Form 8300 information to law enforcement agencies, several issues must still be resolved before FinCEN can obtain approval from IRS to directly disseminate this information or provide it to state and local agencies via Project Gateway. In a similar vein, while FinCEN had taken steps to inform the law enforcement community about its support, some federal law enforcement officials said they were not aware of the various products and services offered by FinCEN. Objectives, Scope, and Methodology

This report focuses on the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network’s (FinCEN) products and services in support of law enforcement. Specifically, this report discusses (1) trends in the types and quantities of products and services provided by FinCEN to the law enforcement community; (2) the extent to which FinCEN’s products and services have been considered useful by the law enforcement community in identifying, developing, or prosecuting money laundering and other financial crime cases; (3) the extent to which FinCEN evaluates the states’ compliance with applicable controls over access to and use of information when state law enforcement officials directly access FinCEN’s resources; and (4) FinCEN’s efforts to obtain approval from the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) to provide IRS Form 8300 information (Report of Cash Payments Over $10,000 Received in a Trade or Business) to the law enforcement community. To determine the trends in and usefulness of FinCEN’s products and services, we focused on five principal types of support provided by FinCEN: (1) tactical products in support of agencies’ ongoing investigations; (2) strategic products designed to address longer-term or more broadly scoped topics; (3) artificial intelligence products designed to provide investigative leads; (4) a “platform concept,” whereby federal agency officials can access databases and do their own research using FinCEN resources; and (5) “Project Gateway,” which provides state agencies with remote, on-line access to financial and some commercial data.
Why GAO Did This Study

Pursuant to a congressional request, GAO reviewed the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network's (FinCEN) products and services in support of law enforcement, focusing on: (1) trends in the types and quantities of products and services provided by FinCEN to the law enforcement community; (2) the extent to which FinCEN's products and services have been considered useful by the law enforcement community in identifying, developing, or prosecuting money laundering and other financial crime cases; (3) the extent to which FinCEN evaluates the states' compliance with applicable controls over access to and use of information when state law enforcement officials directly access FinCEN's resources; and (4) FinCEN's efforts to provide Internal Revenue Service (IRS) Form 8300 information to the law enforcement community.

What GAO Found

GAO noted that: (1) FinCEN has expanded the types of products and services it provides to the law enforcement community; (2) in recent years, FinCEN has issued fewer tactical, strategic, and artificial intelligence products and has encouraged, trained, and increasingly relied on federal agencies to use the platform concept and state and local agencies to use Project Gateway to support cases that do not require FinCEN's expertise; (3) according to FinCEN, one significant reason for the decrease in the number of products issued was that its staffing levels have remained fairly constant over the years, while its overall mission has expanded to include: (a) responsibility for promulgating Bank Secrecy Act regulations; and (b) a leadership role in international efforts to combat money laundering; (4) respondents to surveys indicated that FinCEN's tactical products have been useful and assisted law enforcement investigations in ways not previously identified; (5) officials that had requested few or no tactical products from FinCEN generally did not indicate dissatisfaction with it; (6) some respondents were not aware of the various products and services offered, and FinCEN has neither developed nor widely disseminated general criteria or guidelines on when law enforcement officials should request its support; (7) according to federal and state officials, the platform concept and Project Gateway are useful tools for helping agencies combat money laundering and other financial crimes; (8) FinCEN data show that an increasing number of federal, state, and local agencies are using these self-help mechanisms to support their investigations; (9) while Project Gateway is designed to enhance the capabilities of state and local law enforcement agencies, this technological advancement increases the potential risk that sensitive information could be inappropriately accessed, used, or disclosed; (10) although FinCEN has established policies and procedures designed to limit access to and use of information obtained through the Gateway system, it has not evaluated the states' compliance with these controls; (11) in an effort to enhance its investigative support, FinCEN is seeking IRS approval to provide IRS Form 8300 information to law enforcement officials; and (12) however, several issues must still be resolved before FinCEN can obtain approval from IRS to disseminate this information.