FinCEN Issues Guidance to Financial Institutions on Cross-Border Information Sharing

Today, the U.S. Department of the Treasury’s Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN) is issuing guidance to encourage and promote appropriate, voluntary cross-border sharing of information between and among financial institutions, including appropriate foreign financial institutions. The guidance aims to help combat the threats posed by money laundering, terrorist financing, and other illicit finance activity, including from drug trafficking organizations, foreign terrorist organizations, and fraudsters. The guidance clarifies that while financial institutions are prohibited from sharing Suspicious Activity Reports (SARs), as well as information that would reveal the existence of a SAR, the Bank Secrecy Act and its implementing regulations generally do not prohibit cross-border information sharing. FinCEN is issuing the guidance in consultation with staffs from the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency, Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation, and National Credit Union Administration.

Among other goals, this guidance furthers the President’s Working Group on Digital Asset Markets report, “Strengthening American Leadership in Digital Financial Technology,” by supporting greater information sharing.

Guidance: https://www.fincen.gov/system/files/2025-09/Crossborderguidance-508C.pdf