Financial Crimes Enforcement Network

Malaysia regulations

FinCEN is the financial intelligence unit of the United States and a bureau of the U.S. Department of the Treasury. The Secretary of the Treasury has delegated to FinCEN’s Director the authority to implement, administer and enforce the Bank Secrecy Act.

SmartChecker links every fact on this page to FinCEN’s own published source.

About Financial Crimes Enforcement Network

FinCEN collects and analyses reports that financial institutions are required to file, and passes what it finds to law enforcement. It is one of more than 100 financial intelligence units in the Egmont Group, the network through which such units exchange information across borders.

It is an intelligence and enforcement body, not a licensing one. FinCEN does not authorise firms to take your money, and no company is “licensed by FinCEN”.

What it does

  • Issues, interprets and enforces compliance with regulations under the Bank Secrecy Act.
  • Collects, stores and disseminates the data filed under those reporting requirements.
  • Supports law enforcement investigations and prosecutions, and analyses the data for policymakers and other agencies.
  • Exchanges information with foreign financial intelligence units, and supports the U.S. delegation to the Financial Action Task Force.
  • Uses its Section 311 authority under the USA PATRIOT Act against jurisdictions and institutions it names as of primary money laundering concern.

Can you rely on it?

Yes, for what it is. FinCEN is a U.S. Treasury bureau and its findings and advisories are official. But it is not a register of approved firms, and this is the point most often got wrong: FinCEN registration as a money services business is a filing obligation, not a licence, not an endorsement, and not a check on whether a business is honest. A firm telling Malaysians it is “FinCEN registered” has told you nothing about whether it may take their money — for that, check the Malaysian registers.

Source: What we do

Who runs FinCEN

Who runs FinCEN

FinCEN is led by a Director. It is the Director, not the Secretary of the Treasury, who holds the delegated authority to implement, administer and enforce the Bank Secrecy Act.

  • Jenna CasanovaDirector (Acting)Financial Crimes Enforcement Network

Source: FinCEN — What we do (list of Directors) · as read on . Names and posts only; SmartChecker publishes no photographs from that page.

The department it belongs to

FinCEN is a bureau of the U.S. Department of the Treasury, which the Secretary of the Treasury heads. The Secretary does not run FinCEN; the Bank Secrecy Act authority is his to delegate, and it is delegated to FinCEN's Director.

  • Scott K. H. BessentSecretary of the TreasuryU.S. Department of the Treasury

Source: U.S. Department of the Treasury — Secretary Scott Bessent · as read on . Names and posts only; SmartChecker publishes no photographs from that page.

Regulator details

Full name
Financial Crimes Enforcement Network
Short name
FinCEN
Type
Bureau of the U.S. Department of the Treasury
Set up under
Currency and Foreign Transactions Reporting Act of 1970 (the Bank Secrecy Act), as amended by Title III of the USA PATRIOT Act of 2001
Reports to
Secretary of the Treasury
Covers
United States — anti-money laundering
Official registers
MSB registrant search
What we do
Source
What we do
SmartChecker checked
Website
fincen.gov