A FinCEN whistleblower is any insider who reports illicit act financial institution violations of the Bank Secrecy Act or sanctions laws to FinCEN.
FinCEN is a bureau of the U.S. Department of the Treasury whose mission is to protect the financial system from illicit activity such as money laundering and terrorist financing. They also promote national security through strategic use of financial authorities and the collection, analysis, and dissemination of financial intelligence.
As part of its mission, FinCEN operates the federal government’s whistleblower program for anti-money laundering and sanctions violations.
This program, created by the Anti-Money Laundering Act of 2020 and strengthened by the AML Whistleblower Improvement Act of 2022 offers financial incentives and protections for those who report violations of the Bank Secrecy Act (BSA) and sanctions laws.
What is Considered a Financial Institution?
The BSA framework assumes financial institutions are the first line of defense—they see the transactions, they know the customers, they can spot patterns regulators can’t. A financial institution is broad, but the most common ones include:
- Banks
- Credit unions
- Broker-dealers
- Money services businesses
- Casinos
- Insurance companies
- Dealers in precious metals
Those who have information about a financial institution engaging in, or is an accomplice to, illicit activity such as money laundering or other violations of BSA or sanctions, can report their concerns under the FinCEN’s whistleblower program and potentially qualify for a substantial reward up to 30% of the monetary sanctions collected.
Quick Facts: FinCEN Whistleblower Program
| FinCEN AML/Sanctions Whistleblower Program | |
| Administering Agency | FinCEN (Treasury Department) |
| Covered Violations | Bank Secrecy Act violations IEEPA, Trading with Enemy Act, Kingpin Act |
| Award Range | 10% to 30% of sanctions over $1 million |
| Award Fund | Financial Integrity Fund ($300 million) |
| Minimum for Award | $1 million in sanctions collected |
| Anonymous Reporting | Yes, if represented by attorney |
| International Eligibility | Fully eligible (no U.S. citizenship required) |
| Retaliation Remedies | Reinstatement + 2x back pay + attorney fees |
| Current Status | Operational; final regulations pending |
| Largest Recent Action | TD Bank: $3.1B (potential award: $310M-$930M) |
What is the FinCEN Whistleblower Program?
The Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN) operates and oversees the U.S. government’s whistleblower program. This program offers substantial financial awards and legal protections to individuals who report violations of the Bank Secrecy Act and U.S. sanctions laws.
[Anonymous Filing Permitted: tips can be submitted anonymously if the whistleblower is represented by an attorney who can communicate directly and confidentially with FinCEN to verify information and protect your identity.
Award Structure
Under the FinCEN whistleblower program, whistleblowers who provide original and credible information leading to enforcement actions are entitled to an award between 10% and 30% of the monetary sanctions collect if those sanctions exceed $1 million.
Awards are paid directly from the Financial Integrity Fund, a $300 million “revolving fund” established by Congress and one hundred percent financed by collect penalties. You can learn more about the statutory framework codified at 31 U.S.C. § 5323.
Protection from Retaliation
AML and sanctions whistleblowers are protected from retaliation from their employer. This means that cannot discharge, demote, suspend, threaten, blacklist, harass, or discriminate against employees who report violations to FinCEN, the Department of Justice, or through internal compliance channels.
FinCEN Program Status
As FinCEN Director Andrea Gacki stated in Congressional testimony, the program has received over 270 tips since inception in 2020, and FinCEN is processing these and referring them to enforcement.
Program Nascency
The Office of the Whistleblower has been established and staffed. However, because the program lacks a dedicated online portal like those used by the SEC and CFTC, working with an experienced whistleblower attorney is strongly recommended to ensure your submission is properly documented and your rights are protected.
Types of Illegal Activity Covered
The program covers two main categories: violations of the Bank Secrecy Act (BSA) and violations of U.S. sanctions laws.
Bank Secrecy Act (BSA) Violations
AML Program Failures
Financial institutions must maintain anti-money laundering programs with internal controls, a designated compliance officer, employee training, independent testing, and risk-based customer due diligence.
Reportable violations include chronically understaffed compliance departments, failure to update monitoring systems for new risks, lack of independent audits, or management override of compliance controls.
Suspicious Activity Report (SAR) Failures
Institutions must file SARs when they detect transactions that may involve money laundering or other crimes. Violations include failure to file required SARs, filing late or inaccurate reports, or deliberately setting monitoring thresholds to avoid generating alerts.
Currency Transaction Report (CTR) Failures
Cash transactions over $10,000 must be reported. Violations include failure to file CTRs, filing with inaccurate customer information, or helping customers structure transactions to avoid reporting requirements.
Know Your Customer (KYC) Failures
Institutions must verify customer identities and understand customer relationships. Violations include opening accounts without proper verification, failing to conduct enhanced due diligence on high-risk customers, or ignoring obvious red flags about customer activity.
Transaction Monitoring Failures
Institutions must monitor transactions for suspicious patterns. Violations include using outdated monitoring systems, deliberately excluding transaction types from monitoring, or failing to investigate alerts.
Sanctions Violations
The 2022 amendments expanded coverage to include violations of sanctions laws administered by the Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC).
This includes: the International Emergency Economic Powers Act (IEEPA), authorizing sanctions on foreign threats to national security; the Trading with the Enemy Act, governing trade with designated enemy nations; and the Foreign Narcotics Kingpin Designation Act, targeting designated drug traffickers.
Major BSA and Sanctions Violation Cases
OKX — $504 Million (February 2025)
The cryptocurrency exchange pleaded guilty to operating an unlicensed money transmitting business. According to the DOJ press release, the Seychelles-based platform knowingly served U.S. customers despite an official ban, with employees instructing Americans to falsify identification documents to bypass restrictions.
U.S. customers conducted over $1 trillion in transactions between 2018 and early 2024, and inadequate AML and KYC controls allowed more than $5 billion in suspicious activity to flow through the platform.
The settlement included $420.3 million in criminal forfeiture and an $84.4 million fine. This case—like many AML cases— demonstrate the scale of AML penalties and potential whistleblower awards, which be in the hundreds of millions.
TD Bank — $3.1 Billion (October 2024)
The largest BSA enforcement action in history. According to the FinCEN press release, TD Bank deliberately underfunded its compliance program, left 92% of transactions ($18.3 trillion) unmonitored, and allowed three criminal networks to launder over $670 million.
Five bank employees were implicated in facilitating the schemes. The DOJ announced this was the first time a major U.S. bank pleaded guilty to money laundering conspiracy.
A whistleblower whose tip led to this action could receive $310 million to $930 million.
Binance — $4.3 Billion (November 2023)
The largest penalty in Treasury Department history. The world’s largest cryptocurrency exchange pleaded guilty to BSA, sanctions, and unlicensed money transmitting violations. According to the DOJ press release, Binance willfully failed to report over 100,000 suspicious transactions linked to Hamas, Al Qaeda, ISIS, ransomware operators, and child exploitation material.
The platform facilitated nearly $900 million in trades between U.S. customers and users in sanctioned Iran alone, and OFAC identified over 1.6 million apparent sanctions violations across multiple programs. CEO Changpeng Zhao personally pleaded guilty and resigned—the first time the largest corporate guilty plea also included criminal charges against the CEO. The settlement included $2.5 billion in forfeiture, $1.8 billion in fines, and a $50 million personal penalty for Zhao.
Our AML Cases
Howard Wilkinson, Danske Bank — $2 Billion (December 2022)
The largest money laundering scandal in banking history.
Danske Bank’s Estonian branch processed approximately $230 billion in suspicious transactions from Russia and former Soviet states over nearly a decade, exploiting weak AML controls to funnel illicit funds into Western financial systems.
The DOJ press release detailed how the bank’s internal controls comprehensively failed to detect or stop the illegal transactions.
The scheme was exposed by whistleblower Howard Wilkinson, a British national who served as head of Danske Bank’s trading operations in Estonia. Wilkinson raised internal concerns about suspicious activity and inadequate AML controls in 2013-14, but his allegations were initially ignored despite internal audits confirming their validity. Wilkinson and his counsel — IWA’s Stephen M. Kohn — later testified before the Danish and European Parliaments, providing crucial details about the scheme’s inner workings.
The Danske Bank case played a pivotal role in Congress enacting the AML Whistleblower Improvement Act of 2022, which made whistleblower awards mandatory and expanded the program to cover sanctions violations—the very reforms that make today’s FinCEN program viable. Wilkinson’s received the Allard Prize for International Integrity by the Association of Certified Fraud Examiners in 2020.
How to Report AML and Sanctions Violations?
Given the nascency of the FinCEN whistleblower program, there isn’t a dedicated online portal like the SEC or CFTC whistleblower programs. Thus, it’s highly recommended that you contact an experienced FinCEN whistleblower attorney to ensure continuity and cooperation throughout the process.
Here are the general steps to reporting:
Step 1: Get Expert Legal Assistance
It is advised that you hire an attorney to help guide you through the process. They can help evaluate information and the strength of your potential claim, as well as submit tips anonymously and communicate with FinCEN on your behalf.
[IWA Attorney Fees: Our whistleblower attorneys work on contingency bases, meaning we only get paid if you receive an award. Request a Consultation]
Step 2: Document, Document, Document!
It’s important for you to begin gathering critical information to build your case. An attorney can also help you evaluate what documentation is appropriate and necessary. It’s important that you do not break the law to obtain information – for instance, hacking or breaking into a secure facility to obtain information.
Step 3: Prepare Your Submission
With or without the help of an attorney, prepare a comprehensive case submission explaining the violations, supporting evidence, and the calculated harm or monetary impact that the illicit activity has generated.
Step 4: Submit to FinCEN
Once you’ve prepared your case, you or your attorney can submit it FinCEN’s Office of the Whistleblower. Your attorney will be the intermediary that serves as your representative when communicating with FinCEN or other regulators.
Step 5: Cooperation
If FinCEN or DOJ opens an investigation based on your information, you may be asked to provide additional details or clarification. Your attorney will coordinate this process.
Related Actions
Whistleblowers may be able to report to other regulators, all of which have their own rules and procedures. For example, The SEC Whistleblower Program covers broker-dealers, investment advisers, and public companies. The CFTC Whistleblower Program covers futures commission merchants and introducing brokers—the CFTC has issued alerts specifically encouraging BSA violation tips.
Contact IWA AML Whistleblower Attorneys
IWA represents whistleblowers across the world who reporting money laundering or sanctions violations, such as Howard Wilkinson — a Danske Bank whistleblower who exposed the largest money laundering scandal ($230 Billion) in banking history.
If you have information about BSA or sanctions violations, IWA can evaluate your case, protect your identity, and guide you through the reporting process. All consultations are confidential and protected by attorney-client privilege.
Request a confidential consultation today.
