WASHINGTON, D.C. – Today on his first day as Chairman of the Subcommittee on National Security, Illicit Finance, and International Financial Institutions, Congressman Blaine Luetkemeyer (MO-03) sent a letter to Attorney General Merrick Garland regarding the usefulness of Bank Secrecy Act data. Section 6201 of the 2021 National Defense Authorization Act placed a statuary requirement on the DOJ to issue a report on that data. Although the DOJ completed the report, the Government Accountability Office found the report omitted key data required by the law.

“Congress included Section 6201 to provide greater transparency regarding the usefulness of BSA data filed with the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN) from financial institutions. Determining the effectiveness of this data is critical to ensure financial institutions are providing FinCEN with the most relevant data to certify bad actors are not using our financial services industry to fund illicit activities,” wrote the Congressman. “The DOJ’s disregard for section 6201 has cemented a lack of transparency into the usefulness of the reported data. This inaction plays into the hands of criminals using our financial system by preventing FinCEN and Congress from determining the effectiveness of the U.S. anti-money laundering regime."

 A full copy of the letter can be found HERE.