FinCEN Proposes Rule to Pay Whistleblowers

Major Milestone in Implementing Whistleblower Program to Fight Illicit Finance

WASHINGTON-Today, the U.S. Department of the Treasury's Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN) submitted to the Federal Register a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (NPRM) to fully implement a whistleblower program by establishing a framework for offering incentives and protections to encourage individuals to report tips on fraud-related violations of the Bank Secrecy Act, U.S. sanctions programs administered by Treasury's Office of Foreign Assets Control, and several other laws critical to safeguarding the U.S. financial system and national security.

"As promised, Treasury will reward whistleblowers who provide timely, actionable information on fraud, sanctions violations, and other significant illicit finance activity," said Secretary of the Treasury Scott Bessent. "President Trump has been clear that Americans have a right to know that their tax dollars are not being diverted to fund acts of global terror or to fund luxury cars for fraudsters. At Treasury, we follow the money, and we strongly encourage individuals to come forward with credible tips to help safeguard our financial system."

The NPRM proposes:

• procedures for whistleblowers to share information about potential violations in a timely and secure manner, including for submitting an award application;
• eligibility criteria for making awards and the process for adjudicating award applications;
• awards of 10 - 30 percent of collected monetary penalties for individuals whose tip leads to a successful enforcement action by Treasury or the Department of Justice; and
• protections for whistleblowers who provide information to FinCEN's whistleblower program.

Although FinCEN's whistleblower program is codified by the Anti-Money Laundering Act (2020) and the Anti-Money Laundering Whistleblower Improvement Act (2022) and is currently accepting tips, the regulation proposed today, when finalized, will fully implement these statutes. Whistleblowers are encouraged to submit information as soon as possible and to provide detailed, specific documentation to support their claims. FinCEN also recently launched a portal for whistleblowers, which you can find here.

Members of the public should submit comments in response to the NPRM within 60 days of the NPRM's publication in the Federal Register. Comments responding to this notice will be publicly viewable at https://www.regulations.gov.

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