Press Releases

Today, the Subcommittee on National Security, Illicit Finance, and International Financial Institutions, led by Subcommittee Chair Warren Davidson (OH-08), hosted Financial Crimes Enforcement Network’s (FinCEN) Director Andrea Gacki to conduct oversight of the bureau’s authorities, operations, and the current status of the beneficial ownership reporting regime.

On the need to reform FinCEN’s operations:

“The Bank Secrecy Act was enacted in 1970 with a narrow, good intention: to create transparency against organized crime's infiltration of our financial system. Over decades, it's morphed into a bloated surveillance machine, demanding endless reports from banks and businesses without delivering proportional results. Today, this is dangerously outdated. The BSA's one-size-fits-all mandate wastes resources and erodes freedoms, often stifling innovation. In recent years, the Bank Secrecy Act, Corporate Transparency Act, and Anti-Money Laundering Act of 2020 have proven ineffective and overly cumbersome,” said Subcommittee Chair Davidson. 

"Under [the Corporate Transparency Act], companies are required to report four key pieces of information full legal name, date of birth, current address, and a unique identifier. And of course, that's all available except for the birth date, which I think we can figure out. … But I really, I think there's a better way," added Chairman French Hill (AR-02).

On ways FinCEN can increase financial protection measures:

Regarding the beneficial ownership reporting regime, Chairman Hill commented, “Instead of creating a new database that can be breached, hacked, collecting more information that can only be filed online for 32 million small businesses, every heating and cooling owner out there with the truck and three employees is going to be captured by this, for example. … I think there's a better way, which is simply using the existing form 1065, which every pass-through entity has to file, and the resulting K-1s that are issued.”

On the latest regulatory developments at FinCEN:

“The residential real estate transfers rule, like the beneficial ownership reporting requirements, will affect a large number of small businesses. As we saw from the beneficial ownership information reporting requirements, millions of small businesses in the United States were largely unaware that they had to comply, and were even unaware of the existence of FinCEN. My concern is that similar to before, small businesses like title companies will not be educated on these requirements and unfairly punished for something they are unfamiliar with,” said Rep. Roger Williams (TX-25).

On FinCEN’s efforts to combat financial fraud:

“Fraud in our financial service system continues to be one of the top burdens facing my home state. … Part of the problem seems to be FinCEN is overwhelmed with data, sometimes in material data that dilutes the helpful information the agency could use,” said Rep. Frank Lucas (OK-03).

On Section 314(b) of the USA PATRIOT Act:

“FinCEN is responsible for issuing guidance for section 314(b) of the Patriot Act which allows financial institutions to share information with one another regarding activities that may involve money laundering or terrorism. Only 3,626 banks out of the approximately 9,148 banks and credit unions nationwide are actually registered to share information,” said Rep. Andy Barr (KY-06).

On FinCEN’s priorities:

Andrea M. Gacki, Director, Financial Crimes Enforcement Network said: “FinCEN is concerned about a wide and diversified array of fraud, which continues to be our most-reported type of suspicious activity. Cyber-enabled fraud remains elevated, and FinCEN has observed an increase in reported fraud and cybercrime every year since at least 2013. Between elder financial exploitation, government benefits fraud, digital asset investment scams, account takeover attacks, artificial intelligence-enabled fraud, and other forms of these crimes, sophisticated criminal networks have stolen millions—even billions—of dollars from Americans without ever physically entering the United States. … To further reduce regulatory burdens for U.S companies and U.S. persons, FinCEN modified our approach to beneficial ownership implementation. Consistent with the U.S. Department of the Treasury’s March 2, 2025, announcement suspending enforcement of the Corporate Transparency Act against U.S. citizens and domestic companies, FinCEN issued an interim final rule on March 21, 2025, that removed the requirement for U.S. companies and U.S. persons to report beneficial ownership information (BOI) to FinCEN under the Corporate Transparency Act.”

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