FinCEN Turns Data Into Action as Treasury Tightens the Net on Money Laundering

Key Takeaways

• Data at Scale: FinCEN is using advanced analytics drawn from more than one million transaction reports to drive enforcement.
• Border Focus: Over 100 MSBs along the southwest border are under review for potential Bank Secrecy Act failures.
• Global Networks in Scope: Treasury is simultaneously targeting Chinese money laundering networks linked to $7.1 billion in suspected activity.
• Public-Private Pressure: Banks and non-bank financial firms are being pulled closer into real-time coordination with regulators and law enforcement.

Deep Dive

The U.S. Treasury is leaning harder into data, technology, and coordination as it steps up efforts to disrupt money laundering tied to organized crime and cross-border networks. This week, the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network announced a sweeping, data-driven operation focused on money services businesses operating along the southwest border, which is an initiative that shows how aggressively the department is now using financial intelligence to drive enforcement.

The operation targets more than 100 U.S. money services businesses, or MSBs, that operate outside the traditional banking system and can face elevated exposure to illicit finance risks. FinCEN said the review has already resulted in six notices of investigation, dozens of examination referrals to the Internal Revenue Service, and more than 50 compliance outreach letters tied to potential Bank Secrecy Act shortcomings.

Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent cast the effort in stark national security terms, saying the department is deploying “all tools” to prevent cartel-linked money laundering tied to drug trafficking, human smuggling, and related crimes. The border operation, Treasury said, aligns with broader administration priorities around border security and dismantling transnational criminal organizations.

Behind the scenes, the initiative is fueled by scale. FinCEN’s analysis draws on more than one million Currency Transaction Reports and roughly 87,000 Suspicious Activity Reports, the filings financial institutions submit to flag potentially illicit behavior. Using high-performance data processing, analysts sifted through that volume to identify patterns suggesting elevated risk among certain MSBs. Treasury stressed that the response is deliberately tiered, ranging from outreach and examinations to civil penalties, injunctive actions, or criminal referrals where the facts support willful violations.

Officials also pointed to technology modernization as the quiet enabler. Treasury says newer analytical capabilities are allowing FinCEN to turn fragmented reporting into what it describes as decision-grade intelligence, making it possible to act faster and at greater scale than traditional, case-by-case approaches.

The border operation does not stand alone. It comes alongside a parallel push to disrupt international money laundering networks, particularly those tied to Chinese money launderers who facilitate transnational crime.

Earlier this week, Treasury convened banks, federal law enforcement, and senior officials under a FinCEN Exchange (its public-private forum for sharing financial intelligence) to focus squarely on cutting Chinese money laundering networks off from U.S. and global financial channels. FinCEN Director Andrea Gacki warned that these actors pose one of the most persistent threats to the U.S. financial system, routinely laundering proceeds for criminal organizations, including Mexico-based drug cartels.

The urgency is backed by data. Since FinCEN issued an advisory and financial trend analysis on Chinese money laundering networks in August, more than 500 Suspicious Activity Reports have referenced the advisory’s indicators. Those filings flag roughly $7.1 billion in suspected transactions between December 2018 and November 2025, reinforcing Treasury’s view that the problem is sustained rather than episodic.

At the Exchange, FinCEN shared intelligence directly with participating institutions and emphasized the central role banks play in spotting complex laundering patterns that span jurisdictions, payment systems, and intermediaries. Treasury also signaled it will continue engaging with Chinese authorities while pressing ahead with domestic and international partnerships aimed at translating reporting into real-world disruption.

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