WASHINGTON—The U.S. Treasury’s Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN) has released new guidance encouraging voluntary cross-border information sharing among financial institutions, including those overseas.
The initiative is intended to strengthen efforts against money laundering, terrorist financing, and other illicit activity linked to drug cartels, foreign terrorist groups, and fraud schemes, FinCEN stated.
The guidance clarifies that while financial institutions are prohibited from sharing Suspicious Activity Reports (SARs), as well as information that would reveal the existence of a SAR, the Bank Secrecy Act and its implementing regulations generally do not prohibit cross-border information sharing.
“FinCEN is issuing the guidance in consultation with staffs from the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency, Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation, and National Credit Union Administration,” the agency stated. “Among other goals, this guidance furthers the President’s Working Group on Digital Asset Markets report, ‘Strengthening American Leadership in Digital Financial Technology,’ by supporting greater information sharing.
Guidance: https://www.fincen.gov/system/files/2025-09/Crossborderguidance-508C.pdf