Senators Urge Treasury to Complete Sanctions Whistleblower Program

The Treasury Department has been too slow to propose regulations for a congressionally mandated sanctions whistleblower program, a group of bipartisan senators said this week, calling the agency’s lack of progress “unacceptable.”

Although the “core program” was enacted over three years ago by the Corporate Transparency Act and strengthened in 2022 as part of a broader appropriations bill, Treasury’s Financial Crimes Enforcement Network hasn’t issued a notice of proposed rulemaking to “govern” the whistleblower program, the lawmakers said. FinCEN also hasn’t created a website to allow whistleblowers to submit claims or tips.

In a Feb. 2 letter to the agency, Sens. Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa, Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass., and Raphael Warnock, D-Ga., said they are “concerned about FinCEN’s significant delays in fully implementing the law.” They said Congress passed the Anti-Money Laundering Whistleblower Improvement Act to “incentivize whistleblowers to report sanctions violations and hold money launderers accountable,” adding that it’s “critically important” for FinCEN to create pathways for people to submit tips while also allowing “flexibility” for how and when they may report information and be eligible to receive awards.

“These procedures should be clear and consistent, giving whistleblowers assurances that they will be protected before they take the risk to come forward,” the letter said. “If barriers continue to prevent whistleblowers from reporting sanctions and anti-money laundering violations, it will significantly hamper our nation’s ability to bring enforcement actions and strengthen our national security interest.”

The lawmakers asked FinCEN to respond to several oversight questions, including why the agency hasn’t yet created the whistleblower program, when it expects it to be fully implemented, the number of tips the agency has received and more.

A Treasury spokesperson declined to comment.