FINCEN FILES
FinCEN Files investigation named Pulitzer Prize finalist
The global exposé by ICIJ and BuzzFeed News revealed how a broken U.S.-led enforcement system allows banks to continue to profit from moving trillions in dirty money.
FinCEN Files
An ICIJ investigation reveals the role of global banks in industrial-scale money laundering – and the bloodshed and suffering that flow in its wake. Read more.
In this investigation
FINCEN FILES
Global banks defy U.S. crackdowns by serving oligarchs, criminals and terrorists
The FinCEN Files show trillions in tainted dollars flow freely through major banks, swamping a broken enforcement system.
By ICIJ | September 20, 2020
Data
Explore the FinCEN Files data
Explore the confidential data at the heart of the FinCEN Files.
By ICIJ | September 20, 2020
Politics
New US Treasury strategy targets crypto scams and real estate money laundering
IMPACT
New US company ownership database faces continued political attacks weeks after launch
Financial Secrecy
New UK transparency laws will target money launderers and fraudsters, but advocates warn ‘loopholes’ remain
IMPACT
US Treasury Department removes ‘escape hatch’ for criminals from beneficial ownership reporting form
Accountability
Money-laundering criminals are adapting to new technology faster than authorities can keep up, EU report says
Oligarchs
Ukrainian oligarch sanctioned following the FinCEN Files investigation arrested in Ukraine
Accountability
New FinCEN head appointed as concerns grow over stalled US company registry
ACCOUNTABILITY
U.S. Treasury faces a wave of criticism over faltering push to unmask anonymous companies and track dirty money
FINCEN FILES
Proposed rule would render US company registry ‘effectively useless,’ bankers warn
IMPACT
US sanctions financial network and luxury planes linked to Russian oligarch Suleiman Kerimov
FINCEN FILES
New US company owner database ‘taking way too long’ to implement, experts warn
Accountability
Pandora Papers shed light on ‘gatekeepers’ of dirty money says European watchdog
MONEY LAUNDERING
As US pledges renewed fight against dirty money, head of financial crime agency says funding shortfalls have caused delays
SANCTIONS
US seeks to seize superyacht linked to Russian oligarch after its surprise arrival in Fiji
RUSSIA
An oligarch’s nephew, a tattoo artist and $700 million in secret transfers traced to a Putin ally
FINCEN FILES
US budget proposal seeks to modernize FinCEN and sanctions policy
FINANCIAL SECRECY
UK moves to clamp down on dirty Russian money
FINANCIAL SECRECY
How a network of enablers have helped Russia’s oligarchs hide their wealth abroad
MEET THE INVESTIGATORS
Keeping an ‘eye on the prize’ despite ongoing intimidation over FinCEN Files story
IMPACT
As reforms sparked by FinCEN Files roll out a year on, key source is behind bars
MONEY LAUNDERING
‘A Kleptocrat’s dream’: US real estate a safe haven for billions in dirty money, report says
AWARDS
Lessons from award-winning FinCEN Files and Luanda Leaks investigations
FINCEN FILES
EU to propose watchdog to tackle anti-money laundering failures exposed by FinCEN Files
BEHIND THE SCENES
How reporting for ICIJ prepared me to become a certified anti-money laundering specialist
MONEY LAUNDERING
Watch: SXSW panel discusses money laundering, inequality and ‘enablers of misery’
MIDDLE EAST
Facing global pressure, the United Arab Emirates to begin fining violators of new corporate transparency rules
FINCEN FILES
FinCEN Files source sentenced to six months in prison
DATA JOURNALISM
A decade of digital evolution to help reporting revolutions at ICIJ
PRESS FREEDOM
Free press advocates call on Niger to reverse ‘disastrous’ fine for FinCEN Files reporter
Accountability
The fight against offshore crime will be a long campaign
TAX HAVENS
Five ways Biden could crack down on dirty money and financial secrecy
FINCEN FILES
Major reforms needed at ‘struggling’ US agency that leads dirty money fight, report says
MONEY LAUNDERING
Advocates push for US to embrace role as global anti-corruption champion
FINCEN FILES
How signatures in public data helped expose the UK’s dirty money cottage industry
IMPACT
ICIJ nominated for Nobel Peace Prize for combating dark money flows
AFRICA
Niger ‘scandal of the century’ exposed in FinCEN Files sparks lawsuit demanding action
Key findings
1
Global banks moved more than $2 trillion between 1999 and 2017 in payments they believed were suspicious, and flagged bank clients in more than 170 countries who were identified as being involved in potentially illicit transactions. The figures include $514 billion at JPMorgan Chase and $1.3 trillion at Deutsche Bank.
2
The FinCEN Files show that five global banks — JPMorgan Chase, HSBC, Standard Chartered Bank, Deutsche Bank and Bank of New York Mellon — moved illicit cash for shadowy characters and criminal networks even after U.S. authorities fined these financial institutions for earlier failures to stem flows of dirty money.
3
In half of the FinCEN Files reports, banks didn’t have information about one or more entities behind the transactions.
4
Years after concerns first emerged, banks continued to move money for fraudsters, drug dealers and allegedly corrupt officials, leading to cases of real harm.
