31 U.S.C. § 310 : US Code - Section 310: Financial Crimes Enforcement Network

Search 31 U.S.C. § 310 : US Code - Section 310: Financial Crimes Enforcement Network

(a) In General. - The Financial Crimes Enforcement Network
established by order of the Secretary of the Treasury (Treasury
Order Numbered 105-08, in this section referred to as "FinCEN") on
April 25, 1990, shall be a bureau in the Department of the
Treasury.
(b) Director. -
(1) Appointment. - The head of FinCEN shall be the Director,
who shall be appointed by the Secretary of the Treasury.
(2) Duties and powers. - The duties and powers of the Director
are as follows:
(A) Advise and make recommendations on matters relating to
financial intelligence, financial criminal activities, and
other financial activities to the Under Secretary of the
Treasury for Enforcement.
(B) Maintain a government-wide data access service, with
access, in accordance with applicable legal requirements, to
the following:
(i) Information collected by the Department of the
Treasury, including report information filed under subchapter
II of chapter 53 of this title (such as reports on cash
transactions, foreign financial agency transactions and
relationships, foreign currency transactions, exporting and
importing monetary instruments, and suspicious activities),
chapter 2 of title I of Public Law 91-508, and section 21 of
the Federal Deposit Insurance Act.
(ii) Information regarding national and international
currency flows.
(iii) Other records and data maintained by other Federal,
State, local, and foreign agencies, including financial and
other records developed in specific cases.
(iv) Other privately and publicly available information.
(C) Analyze and disseminate the available data in accordance
with applicable legal requirements and policies and guidelines
established by the Secretary of the Treasury and the Under
Secretary of the Treasury for Enforcement to -
(i) identify possible criminal activity to appropriate
Federal, State, local, and foreign law enforcement agencies;
(ii) support ongoing criminal financial investigations and
prosecutions and related proceedings, including civil and
criminal tax and forfeiture proceedings;
(iii) identify possible instances of noncompliance with
subchapter II of chapter 53 of this title, chapter 2 of title
I of Public Law 91-508, and section 21 of the Federal Deposit
Insurance Act to Federal agencies with statutory
responsibility for enforcing compliance with such provisions
and other appropriate Federal regulatory agencies;
(iv) evaluate and recommend possible uses of special
currency reporting requirements under section 5326;
(v) determine emerging trends and methods in money
laundering and other financial crimes;
(vi) support the conduct of intelligence or
counterintelligence activities, including analysis, to
protect against international terrorism; and
(vii) support government initiatives against money
laundering.
(D) Establish and maintain a financial crimes communications
center to furnish law enforcement authorities with intelligence
information related to emerging or ongoing investigations and
undercover operations.
(E) Furnish research, analytical, and informational services
to financial institutions, appropriate Federal regulatory
agencies with regard to financial institutions, and appropriate
Federal, State, local, and foreign law enforcement authorities,
in accordance with policies and guidelines established by the
Secretary of the Treasury or the Under Secretary of the
Treasury for Enforcement, in the interest of detection,
prevention, and prosecution of terrorism, organized crime,
money laundering, and other financial crimes.
(F) Assist Federal, State, local, and foreign law enforcement
and regulatory authorities in combatting the use of informal,
nonbank networks and payment and barter system mechanisms that
permit the transfer of funds or the equivalent of funds without
records and without compliance with criminal and tax laws.
(G) Provide computer and data support and data analysis to
the Secretary of the Treasury for tracking and controlling
foreign assets.
(H) Coordinate with financial intelligence units in other
countries on anti-terrorism and anti-money laundering
initiatives, and similar efforts.
(I) Administer the requirements of subchapter II of chapter
53 of this title, chapter 2 of title I of Public Law 91-508,
and section 21 of the Federal Deposit Insurance Act, to the
extent delegated such authority by the Secretary of the
Treasury.
(J) Such other duties and powers as the Secretary of the
Treasury may delegate or prescribe.
(c) Requirements Relating to Maintenance and Use of Data Banks. -
The Secretary of the Treasury shall establish and maintain
operating procedures with respect to the government-wide data
access service and the financial crimes communications center
maintained by FinCEN which provide -
(1) for the coordinated and efficient transmittal of
information to, entry of information into, and withdrawal of
information from, the data maintenance system maintained by
FinCEN, including -
(A) the submission of reports through the Internet or other
secure network, whenever possible;
(B) the cataloguing of information in a manner that
facilitates rapid retrieval by law enforcement personnel of
meaningful data; and
(C) a procedure that provides for a prompt initial review of
suspicious activity reports and other reports, or such other
means as the Secretary may provide, to identify information
that warrants immediate action; and
(2) in accordance with section 552a of title 5 and the Right to
Financial Privacy Act of 1978, appropriate standards and
guidelines for determining -
(A) who is to be given access to the information maintained
by FinCEN;
(B) what limits are to be imposed on the use of such
information; and
(C) how information about activities or relationships which
involve or are closely associated with the exercise of
constitutional rights is to be screened out of the data
maintenance system.
(d) Authorization of Appropriations. -
(1) In general. - There are authorized to be appropriated for
FinCEN such sums as may be necessary for fiscal years 2002, 2003,
2004, and 2005.
(2) Authorization for funding key technological improvements in
mission-critical fincen systems. - There are authorized to be
appropriated for fiscal year 2005 the following amounts, which
are authorized to remain available until expended:
(A) BSA direct. - For technological improvements to provide
authorized law enforcement and financial regulatory agencies
with Web-based access to FinCEN data, to fully develop and
implement the highly secure network required under section 362
of Public Law 107-56 to expedite the filing of, and reduce the
filing costs for, financial institution reports, including
suspicious activity reports, collected by FinCEN under chapter
53 and related provisions of law, and enable FinCEN to
immediately alert financial institutions about suspicious
activities that warrant immediate and enhanced scrutiny, and to
provide and upgrade advanced information-sharing technologies
to materially improve the Government's ability to exploit the
information in the FinCEN data banks, $16,500,000.
(B) Advanced analytical technologies. - To provide advanced
analytical tools needed to ensure that the data collected by
FinCEN under chapter 53 and related provisions of law are
utilized fully and appropriately in safeguarding financial
institutions and supporting the war on terrorism, $5,000,000.
(C) Data networking modernization. - To improve the
telecommunications infrastructure to support the improved
capabilities of the FinCEN systems, $3,000,000.
(D) Enhanced compliance capability. - To improve the
effectiveness of the Office of Compliance in FinCEN,
$3,000,000.
(E) Detection and prevention of financial crimes and
terrorism. - To provide development of, and training in the use
of, technology to detect and prevent financial crimes and
terrorism within and without the United States, $8,000,000.