| Subject: | CORRIGENDUM: FinCEN Fact Finding Initiative - Status Report |
|---|---|
| Date: | Tue, 23 Feb 2021 14:07:46 -0500 |
| From: | Esecretariat <secretariat@egmont.org> |
| To: | a-fiu@egmont.org, ahmed.elbashari@egmont.org, amlc@egmont.org, AMLD@egmont.org, amlo@egmont.org, amlscu@egmont.org, amlu-jordan@egmont.org, andre.kanga@egmont.org, andrey.frolov@egmont.org, annalou.tirol@egmont.org, apml@egmont.org, arsim.fejzullahu@egmont.org, asta.piesinaitezangla@egmont.org, AUSTRAC.HoFIU@egmont.org, austrac.requests@egmont.org, azefms-icd@egmont.org, bahrain-fiu@egmont.org, behar.xhema@egmont.org, Belize-FIU@egmont.org, Berdie.daley@egmont.org, bess.michael@egmont.org, BFIU@egmont.org, bilen.kerga@egmont.org, Bolivia-Requests@egmont.org, Boudewijn.Verhelst@egmont.org, bulgaria-fiu@egmont.org, cayfin@egmont.org, cbsl@egmont.org, centif@egmont.org, centif-benin@egmont.org, centif-ci@egmont.org, centif-mali-correspondence@egmont.org, centif-niger-correspondence@egmont.org, centif.togo@egmont.org, cfci-greece@egmont.org, christiane.ambroise@egmont.org, cicadcr@egmont.org, cifiu@egmont.org, cip-jfiu@egmont.org, cmlc@egmont.org, cnbs-honduras@egmont.org, 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Dear colleagues,
Please disregard our previous email. We are sorry for the inconvenience.
Please find below the correct text on behalf of the EC Subgroup in charge of FinCEN's fact-finding initiative:
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Message sent on behalf the EC-Subgroup in charge of FinCEN’s fact-finding initiative
Dear HoFIU’s,
We hope this email finds you well. On behalf of the Egmont Committee (EC), the EC-Subgroup tasked with the fact-finding initiative regarding the United States Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN), is pleased to share a status report with you related to its activities thus far.
1. As you may recall, in September 2020, the Americas Regional Representatives (RRs) brought to the attention of the EC, the “Statement by FinCEN Regarding Unlawfully Disclosed Suspicious Activity Reports”, which was released on FinCEN’s public website. The RRs concluded that this was a matter of serious concern and the EC subsequently agreed to form an EC -Subgroup to engage with FinCEN with regards to a fact-finding initiative.
2.
The EC-Subgroup is formed of:
·
Mrs. Anne-Marie Kemna, RR for the Americas
·
Mr. Sergio Espinosa, RR for the Americas
·
Mrs. Xolisile Khanyile, Egmont Group Vice-chair
·
Mr. Marko Stolle, Chair of the IEWG and Egmont Group Vice-chair (as an advisor, until 4 February 2021)
3.
Based on the matter that was referred, the EC-Subgroup agreed on the following scope for the fact-finding initiative:
·
Identify any non-compliance issues with Section 1.1 of the Charter, read together with Interpretative Note 7 of Financial Action Task Force (FATF) Recommendation 29, relating to Information Security and Confidentiality.
·
Identify any non-compliance issues with Section 3.3 of the Charter, related to the purpose of the ESW.
·
Identify any non-compliance issues with Principles 28 to 33 of the Egmont Principles for Information Exchange, related to data protection.
· Monitor subsequent press releases to assess if the Egmont Secure Web system (ESW) had been compromised and poses a security threat to the Egmont Group.
4. FinCEN tasked two persons to be the dedicated contacts for the EC-subgroup to engage with in this fact-finding mission:
· Mrs. Bess Michael, Senior International Counsel
· Mrs. AnnaLou Tirol, Associate Director of the Strategic Operations Division
The EC-Subgroup would like to commend FinCEN and its contact persons for its steady commitment to the current fact-finding initiative.
5. The following is an overview of the tasks that have been conducted until now:
· September 2020: The EC-Subgroup sent a formal letter to FinCEN highlighting the scope of the fact-finding initiative, together with an extensive list of questions to clarify the underlying facts and possible non-compliance issues.
· November 2020: FinCEN replied, via ESW, documented responses to the questions posed by the EC-Subgroup. November 2020: The EC-Subgroup formally requested further clarifications.
· December 2020: FinCEN replied, via ESW, and sent additional information based on the request for clarifications.
· January 2021: The EC-subgroup and FinCEN discussed preliminary findings and preliminary conclusions.
It is important to note, that on one question, regarding whether data received from other FIUs were disclosed in the incident, FinCEN stated that they were bound by law not to jeopardize ongoing criminal proceedings related to this case and are thus limited
by law in divulging non-public information. Public documents regarding the court case can be found at the following link:
https://www.courtlistener.com/docket/14533171/united-states-v-edwards/
The EC Sub-group informed FinCEN that while it appreciates that there are on-going investigations related to this case and FinCENs’ legal limitations to divulge information due to this, at the same time, the question posed is an important one in this fact-finding mission.
FinCEN and the EC-subgroup remain closely engaged regarding this topic.
6. Finally, the EC-Subgroup would like to share with the HoFIU’s the following remarks:
· The EC-Subgroup is currently finalizing a final report to the EC, which will include conclusions and possibly recommendations.
· At this point, the EC-Subgroup can disclose that based on its assessment of the information before it, there is no indication that the security of the ESW was compromised during the period that the unlawful disclosure of suspicious activity reports occurred.
Best regards,
EC-Subgroup
(On behalf the Egmont Committee)
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Message sent on behalf Ms. Hennie Verbeek-Kusters, Chair of the Egmont Group and Chair of the Egmont Committee
Dear colleagues,
I hope this email finds you well.
Considering that no comments/concerns have been received in relation to the draft status report sent by the EC Sub-group conducting FinCEN’s fact-finding initiative, I conclude that we have consensus to move forward by updating the HoFIU as proposed. I would like to thank all EC members for their tacit approvals, as well as the EC Sub-group for their work so far.
All the best,
Hennie