WASHINGTON—The Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN) has launched a Global Investigations Division (GID), which will be responsible for implementing targeted investigation strategies rooted in FinCEN’s unique authorities under the Bank Secrecy Act (BSA) to combat illicit finance threats and related crimes, both domestically and internationally.
FinCEN Director Kenneth A. Blanco announced that Matthew Stiglitz, a former Principal Deputy Chief in the Department of Justice’s Criminal Division, will lead GID. Stiglitz has spent more than 24 years as a state and federal prosecutor.
“FinCEN will greatly benefit from Matthew’s experience, leadership, and management skills,” said Blanco. “We are excited to have him on our team as we stand up GID to further focus FinCEN’s investigative efforts to protect our nation and its people from harm.”
According to FinCEN, GID will leverage its BSA authorities, including Section 311 of the USA PATRIOT Act, to investigate and target terrorist finance and money laundering threats, and GID will work more closely with foreign counterparts to coordinate actions against such threats when appropriate.
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“The foundation of GID is FinCEN’s former Office of Special Measures (OSM), which was previously a part of FinCEN’s Enforcement Division,” the organization said. “FinCEN’s strategic use of its Section 311 authority as well as its other information collection authorities, such as the geographic targeting order and foreign financial agency regulation authorities, have greatly expanded in recent years. FinCEN will now have one dedicated division focused on utilizing these authorities to maximum effect, building upon OSM’s prior work.”
GID said it will employ FinCEN’s authorities to detect and deter a wide range of potential threats to our national security and financial system, including those that have a nexus to the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction, rogue state actors, transnational organized crime, international narcotics trafficking, and terrorism.