Whistleblower Award Program for AML and Sanctions Violations

FinCEN News

Published March 30th, 2026

Detected March 31st, 2026

Summary

FinCEN published a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking to establish a whistleblower award program offering 10-30% of collected monetary penalties for tips leading to successful enforcement actions. The program covers fraud-related Bank Secrecy Act violations, OFAC sanctions evasion, and other illicit finance activity under the Anti-Money Laundering Act (2020) and AML Whistleblower Improvement Act (2022).

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What changed

FinCEN has proposed a rule to fully implement its whistleblower program by establishing award percentages of 10-30% of collected monetary penalties for individuals whose tips lead to successful enforcement actions by Treasury or the Department of Justice. The NPRM outlines procedures for secure tip submission, eligibility criteria for awards, adjudication processes, and protections for whistleblowers. The program covers BSA fraud violations, OFAC sanctions programs, and related laws protecting U.S. financial system and national security.

Financial institutions, compliance officers, and legal professionals should review the proposed framework and prepare to submit comments within 60 days of Federal Register publication. Whistleblowers may submit information through FinCEN's newly launched whistleblower portal. The final rule, once implemented, will codify existing statutory authority under the AML Acts of 2020 and 2022.

What to do next

Review proposed whistleblower award procedures and protections for internal compliance planning
Assess existing AML and sanctions compliance programs for areas most likely to generate whistleblower reports
Submit public comments on the NPRM within 60 days of Federal Register publication

Source document (simplified)

FinCEN Proposes Rule to Pay Whistleblowers

Immediate Release

March 30, 2026

Major Milestone in Implementing Whistleblower Program to Fight Illicit Finance

WASHINGTON—Today, the U.S. Department of the Treasury’s Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN) submitted to the Federal Register a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (NPRM) to fully implement a whistleblower program by establishing a framework for offering incentives and protections to encourage individuals to report tips on fraud-related violations of the Bank Secrecy Act, U.S. sanctions programs administered by Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control, and several other laws critical to safeguarding the U.S. financial system and national security.

“As promised, Treasury will reward whistleblowers who provide timely, actionable information on fraud, sanctions violations, and other significant illicit finance activity,” said Secretary of the Treasury Scott Bessent. “President Trump has been clear that Americans have a right to know that their tax dollars are not being diverted to fund acts of global terror or to fund luxury cars for fraudsters. At Treasury, we follow the money, and we strongly encourage individuals to come forward with credible tips to help safeguard our financial system.”

The NPRM proposes:

procedures for whistleblowers to share information about potential violations in a timely and secure manner, including for submitting an award application;
eligibility criteria for making awards and the process for adjudicating award applications;
awards of 10 – 30 percent of collected monetary penalties for individuals whose tip leads to a successful enforcement action by Treasury or the Department of Justice; and
protections for whistleblowers who provide information to FinCEN’s whistleblower program. Although FinCEN’s whistleblower program is codified by the Anti-Money Laundering Act (2020) and the Anti-Money Laundering Whistleblower Improvement Act (2022) and is currently accepting tips, the regulation proposed today, when finalized, will fully implement these statutes. Whistleblowers are encouraged to submit information as soon as possible and to provide detailed, specific documentation to support their claims. FinCEN also recently launched a portal for whistleblowers, which you can find here.

Members of the public should submit comments in response to the NPRM within 60 days of the NPRM’s publication in the Federal Register. Comments responding to this notice will be publicly viewable at www.regulations.gov.