WASHINGTON—Earlier this week, Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN) officials traveled to Miami, Florida for two events that brought together the public and private sectors for discussions on ways to deepen collaboration against the financial crime threats that devastate communities and undermine the integrity of the global financial system. The events—known as FinCEN Exchange sessions—further FinCEN’s commitment to encouraging the secure sharing of information across the nation by convening a range of financial institutions, law enforcement agencies, and the Department of the Treasury. The events included a FinCEN Exchange session that is part of FinCEN’s “Promoting Regional Outreach to Educate Communities on the Threat of Fentanyl” (PROTECT) series of FinCEN Exchange events that will be held in U.S. cities that are highly impacted by the opioid epidemic as part of the Treasury Department’s Counter-Fentanyl Strike Force.
On July 15, FinCEN, in partnership with IRS Criminal Investigation (CI), held its third FinCEN Exchange session in Miami as part of the PROTECT series. This event follows two prior FinCEN Exchange PROTECT events in Boston, Massachusetts on May 20 and Tucson, Arizona on June 12; seven more events will take place in U.S. cities most impacted by the opioid epidemic. FinCEN continues to call on financial institutions to monitor for and report suspicious activity related to the trafficking of fentanyl, fentanyl analogues, and other synthetic opioids and the precursor chemicals and associated manufacturing equipment needed to synthesize these deadly drugs, as highlighted in its latest fentanyl advisory, which was announced by Treasury Secretary Yellen in June 2024 in Atlanta.
On July 16, FinCEN, in partnership with CI, held a separate FinCEN Exchange session in Miami focused on third-party money laundering by complicit gatekeepers, financial enablers, and international banking entities/international financial entities. During that session, FinCEN, Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC), and the Federal Bureau of Investigation announced the issuance of a joint Notice that provides financial institutions with the methodologies, financial typologies, and red flag indicators on timeshare fraud in Mexico perpetrated by transnational criminal organizations. The Notice discusses how third-party money launderers obfuscate the ill-gotten funds in Mexico to diversify revenue streams and finance other criminal activity, including the manufacturing and trafficking of illicit fentanyl. The Notice was issued in coordination with an OFAC action against complicit Mexican accountants and companies that launder ill-gotten funds from timeshare fraud schemes on behalf of the Jalisco New Generation Cartel.
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FinCEN Exchange is a voluntary public-private partnership that convenes relevant stakeholders, including law enforcement agencies and financial institutions. FinCEN Exchange aims to protect our national security and our citizens from harm by combatting money laundering and its related crimes, including terrorism, through public-private dialogue that encourages, enables, and acknowledges industry focus on high-value and high-impact activities. FinCEN Exchange began in 2017 and was codified as part of the Anti-Money Laundering Act of 2020.
“Promoting Regional Outreach to Educate Communities on the Threat of Fentanyl” (or PROTECT) is a series of ten FinCEN Exchange sessions that will be held through the remainder of 2024 in U.S. cities that are highly impacted by the opioid epidemic as part of the Treasury Department’s Counter-Fentanyl Strike Force, which is in partnership with CI. The series is specifically designed to work with regional and local banks that are deeply connected to their communities and offer unique perspectives on the opioid crisis, and will focus on how law enforcement can best support their efforts to monitor activity that may be tied to the illicit trafficking of fentanyl. At these exchanges, federal officials brief on information critical to tracking these illicit financial flows, including typologies and red-flag indicators of fentanyl-related activity, and discuss what types of information are particularly valuable when financial institutions report suspicious activity. The PROTECT series was launched in collaboration with other government partners, including the Drug Enforcement Administration, Homeland Security Investigations, Customs and Border Protection, the U.S. Secret Service, the Federal Bureau of Investigation, the Department of Justice Money Laundering and Asset Recovery Section, various U.S. Attorney’s Offices, and local law enforcement agencies.
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