From: Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN)/US Treasury Department
FinCEN’s 314(a) Fact Sheet
The Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN) provides a unique service to law enforcement to help locate financial assets and recent transactions by subjects of criminal investigations.
This program is in furtherance of Section 314(a) of the USA PATRIOT Act of 2001 (P.L. 107-56), which requires the Secretary of the Treasury to adopt regulations to encourage regulatory and law enforcement authorities to share with financial institutions information regarding individuals, entities, and organizations engaged in or reasonably suspected, based on credible evidence, of engaging in terrorist acts or money laundering activities. FinCEN established the 314a Program through the issuance of a rule (finalized in 2002 and, as amended, now at 31 CFR Part 1010.520), which requires certain financial institutions to search their records and identify if they have responsive information with respect to the particular investigative subject.
Overview
FinCEN’s regulations under Section 314(a) enable federal, state, local, and foreign (European Union) law enforcement agencies, through FinCEN, to reach out to more than 43,000 points of contact at more than 22,000 financial institutions to locate accounts and transactions of persons that may be involved in terrorism or money laundering.
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Examples of 314(a) requests, based on money laundering, include:
- Hawala operation involving a sanctioned country
- Arms trafficking
- Alien smuggling resulting in fatalities
- Cigarette smuggling
- Nationwide investment fraud with many victims
- International criminal network involved in identity theft and wire fraud
- Multi-agency investigation of drug trafficking rings
