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WASHINGTON—The Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN) is proud to announce that Felicia Swindells will serve as Associate Director of the bureau’s Policy Division. Ms. Swindells will oversee the development and administration of policy and regulatory programs implementing the Bank Secrecy Act (BSA), a critical part of the nation’s comprehensive legal architecture in the fight against money laundering and its related crimes, including the financing of terrorism.
Ms. Swindells previously served as Acting Associate Director and Deputy Associate Director of FinCEN’s Policy Division, where she was instrumental in the bureau’s issuance of new regulations, interpretive guidance related to the novel Coronavirus pandemic and numerous natural disasters, exceptive relief and administrative rulings to encourage innovation and clarify the application of the BSA, and advisories alerting financial institutions to emerging illicit finance risks. Ms. Swindells led the nation’s BSA and anti-money laundering regulatory reform efforts, and managed FinCEN’s team of subject matter experts serving on the U.S. delegation to the Financial Action Task Force (FATF).
“I am beyond pleased to have Felicia lead the Policy Division,” said FinCEN Director Kenneth A. Blanco. “Felicia’s impressive experience and incredible work ethic make her exactly the person we need to strengthen the BSA and drive responsible innovation in the private sector to help protect and inform the American people, safeguard the financial system, and promote our national security.”
Prior to joining FinCEN, Ms. Swindells served as Assistant Director of the Policy Division in the Treasury Department’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC), where she led and managed the Division, its policy advisors, and nearly 30 complex economic sanctions programs. Before entering government, Ms. Swindells worked at a major consulting firm serving U.S. government and commercial clients, and prior to that at a multinational law firm headquartered in New York City.
Ms. Swindells received her law degree from Fordham University School of Law, an MA from the Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy at Tufts University, and her undergraduate degree from Tufts University.