Treasury’s FinCEN Whistleblower Portal Presents Business Risks

The Treasury Department’s new whistleblower portal is likely to increase enforcement risks for companies that must comply with the Bank Secrecy Act, US sanctions, and beyond.

The portal, launched Feb. 13 by the Treasury’s Financial Crimes Enforcement Network, creates a centralized channel for reporting possible violations of the BSA. It’s the latest component of a cross-agency push to enhance and expand federal financial misconduct reporting and investigations. It follows President Donald Trump’s 2025 executive order targeting alleged fraud, waste, and abuse through financial institutions.

Although FinCEN framed the portal’s launch around recent fraud allegations in Minnesota, the scope of covered conduct is far broader. It is thus likely to have knock-on effects beyond BSA and US sanctions enforcement, as portal submissions outside FinCEN’s jurisdiction are forwarded to other agencies for investigation and enforcement.

The takeaway is that companies with BSA and sanctions compliance obligations should consider making their internal whistleblower programs more accessible, ensure compliance policies are applied consistently, conduct robust internal investigations as appropriate for substantiated reports of misconduct, provide periodic training, and perform independent compliance testing, among other actions.

Program Mechanics

FinCEN reaffirmed that it’s seeking information about violations of or conspiracies to violate the BSA and programs administered by the Office of Foreign Assets Control.

Program features include:

• Individuals eligible to submit tips. Tips are accepted from individuals in the US or abroad about suspected violations of the BSA or sanctions laws.
• Jurisdictional limits. Tips must relate to statutes enforced by Treasury or the Department of Justice, including the BSA, International Emergency Economic Powers Act, Trading with the Enemy Act, and Foreign Narcotics Kingpin Designation Act. Individuals whose claims don’t have a BSA or sanctions nexus are encouraged to contact other agencies.
• Financial incentives. Whistleblowers may be eligible for monetary awards if information leads to a successful enforcement action with penalties exceeding $1 million, provided statutory requirements are met.
• Multi-agency coordination. Once received, FinCEN will share the submission with relevant enforcement agencies across the Treasury and the Justice Departments.

FinCEN illustrated several fraud scenarios that implicate financial service providers. The example schemes involve sophisticated identity misuse and fast-moving investment fraud, often conducted digitally, where victims are induced to send funds or assets into schemes that disappear quickly.

The bulletin further warned about weaknesses in institutional controls that can allow illicit activity to move undetected, such as rapid customer onboarding without proper due diligence.

Key Risks

FinCEN’s portal lowers the bar for individuals seeking to report violations of the BSA, sanctions laws, anti-money laundering laws, and beyond. Important risks and considerations include:

BSA and sanctions enforcement exposure. The streamlined tip‑submission process and publicity surrounding the portal’s launch is likely to lead to a spike in submissions by internal whistleblowers, investors, competitors, customers, and others. Because FinCEN shares whistleblower information with multiple agencies, the higher risk isn’t limited to FinCEN enforcement and will likely cause more parallel investigations.

Heightened scrutiny of AML and sanctions controls. FinCEN’s examples of fraud highlight vulnerabilities in key compliance responsibilities, including Know Your Customer, Know Your Business, and related due diligence requirements, transaction monitoring, and sanctions screening.

Organizations with automated onboarding, instant payments, or digital asset transactions likely will face heightened exposure due to the perceived efficacy and auditability of these controls, and the consistency with which they’re applied.

Greater bad actor sophistication. The use of deepfakes, artificial identities, and increasingly complex payment or asset‑transfer mechanisms pose significant risks for companies. Those subject to BSA and sanctions laws should anticipate heightened expectations for detection capabilities, especially when dealing with virtual assets or cross‑border transfers.

Reputational risk. Whistleblower allegations can create reputational risks for customers, partners, investors, and regulators.

Practice Tips

Companies can guard against the risks posed by whistleblowers by implementing or enhancing:

Low-barrier internal whistleblower programs. Internal reporting channels should be accessible, genuinely protective of anonymity, and backed by clear anti-retaliation policies so that employees feel comfortable raising concerns internally rather than turning first to FinCEN or other financially incentivized federal whistleblower programs.

Companies should also consider internal incentives, such as recognition programs, safe‑harbor protections for good‑faith reports, or internal ombuds functions, to help counterbalance federal monetary incentives.

Consistent application of BSA, AML, and sanctions compliance policies. Misalignment between written policies and on-the-ground implementation is a frequent enforcement trigger. Companies can limit such risks by maintaining robust program records, including regular policy and procedure updates. Program records should document how internal reports are handled, noting whether investigations were conducted internally or by outside counsel, and the policy-based rationale for each outcome.

Outcome documentation should outline the basis for each finding, such as a determination that a report was non-meritorious, any resulting employee discipline or remediation tied to a substantiated report, or subsequent program modifications.

Ongoing internal training. Companies should schedule periodic, role‑specific training that familiarizes employees with red flags, BSA and sanctions obligations, confidentiality and filing requirements for Suspicious Activity Reports, and the heightened enforcement risks associated with whistleblowers. FinCEN’s bulletin uses illustrative examples throughout various sectors; company training should include practical examples tailored to the company’s business and risk profile.

Independent compliance testing. A single submission can trigger multi-agency investigations, and companies should prepare for outside scrutiny. External counsel or other independent experts can assess BSA compliance, sanctions controls, and data integrity monitoring systems, as well as test SAR filing procedures and review sanctions‑screening protocols for accuracy.

Corporate governance. Company boards of directors and audit committees should receive regular updates on sanctions- and BSA-related metrics, internal reports and outcomes, ongoing compliance issues, whistleblower trends, and FinCEN enforcement activity. Such governance bodies also should oversee periodic risk assessments of relevant compliance functions.

Compliance resources. Finally, compliance programs are only as effective as the staffing, technology, and governance structure that supports them.

Companies, particularly those that are growing rapidly or operating in high-exposure sectors, should start assessing the resources allocated to their internal compliance function and make programmatic adjustments as needed.

This article does not necessarily reflect the opinion of Bloomberg Industry Group, Inc., the publisher of Bloomberg Law, Bloomberg Tax, and Bloomberg Government, or its owners.

Author Information

Galen Kast is partner at Steptoe and counsels companies and individuals in high-stakes government enforcement matters, internal investigations, and civil litigation.

Jason D’Antonio is an associate at Steptoe, his practice encompasses white-collar defense, investigations, and complex civil litigation.

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