FinCEN's 314(a) Fact Sheet

Patriot ActFinancial Crimes Enforcement Network (FINCEN)Anti-Money Laundering
Identity Theft
Risk Management

Section 314(a) of the USA PATRIOT Act of 2001 (P.L. 107-56)1 , required the Secretary of the Treasury to adopt regulations to encourage regulatory authorities and law enforcement authorities to share with financial institutions information regarding individuals, entities, and organizations engaged in or reasonably suspected, based on credible evidence, of engaging in terrorist acts or money laundering activities. FinCEN issued a proposed rule on March 5, 2002, and the final rule on September 26, 2002(67 Fed. Reg. 60,579). Section 314(a) requirements are now published in 31 CFR Part 103.100.

Overview

FinCEN’s regulations under Section 314(a) enables federal law enforcement agencies, through FinCEN, to reach out to 44,000 points of contact at more than 24,000 financial institutions to locate accounts and transactions of persons that may be involved in terrorism or money laundering.

FinCEN receives requests from federal law enforcement and upon review, sends requests to designated contacts within financial institutions across the country once every 2 weeks via either a secure Internet web site or via facsimile. The requests contain subject and business names, addresses, and as much identifying data as possible to assist the financial industry in searching their records. The financial institutions must query their records for data matches, including accounts maintained by the named subject during the preceding 12 months and transactions conducted within the last 6 months. Financial institutions have 2 weeks from the transmission date of the request to respond to 314(a) requests. If the search does not uncover any matching of accounts or transactions, the financial institution is instructed not to reply to the 314(a) request.

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