The National Whistleblower Center (NWC) and its counsel are questioning whether the U.S. Treasury’s proposed rules for the new anti-money laundering whistleblower program could gut protections for whistleblowers and undermine efforts to root out financial crime. NWC submitted formal comments on the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network’s (“FinCEN”) proposed rules for Whistleblower Incentives and Protections. The 19-part comment, submitted on April 30 by NWC, criticizes the draft regulations and questions their divergence from the statutory framework Congress created to govern the program.
FinCEN’s proposed rule implements the Anti-Money Laundering Act of 2020 (“AML”) and Anti-Money Laundering Whistleblower Improvement Act of 2022 (“AML WIA”), touted as the newest – and broadest – U.S. federal whistleblower laws. The AML was modeled after the Dodd-Frank Act’s whistleblower provisions, which established the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (“SEC”) and the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (“CFTC”)’s whistleblower programs. The SEC program in particular is considered by anti-corruption advocates to be one of the most successful anti-corruption measures ever implemented by the U.S. government, recovering more than $6.3 billion in monetary sanctions since 2010.
Congress passed the AML WIA on December 23, 2022, aiming to strengthen enforcement of sanctions and anti-money laundering statutes by expanding incentives and protections for whistleblowers. Two attributes set the AML WIA apart from other existing federal whistleblower programs: the extremely broad scope of violations covered under the law, and the range of government agencies to which whistleblowers can make disclosures. The law has the potential to drastically expand the number of whistleblower tips received by U.S. law enforcement and the number of whistleblowers eligible for awards.
Congressional sponsors of the AML WIA legislation (Charles E. Grassley, Elizabeth Warren, and Raphael Warnock) wrote to FinCEN in 2024, demanding FinCEN’s “full implementation of the AML program” and to “establish confidentiality during investigations and secure pathways for whistleblowers to report tips or make claims.”
FinCEN’s proposed rules address the most important aspects of a functioning whistleblower program: procedures and protections for whistleblowers submitting information about potential violations, whistleblower award eligibility, and FinCEN’s process for adjudicating award applications. But the NWC argues that significant portions of the proposed rules fail to implement whistleblower protections required by the AML WIA or otherwise fail to protect whistleblowers as effectively as they could.
The NWC highlights that the proposed rule fails to adequately recognize and protect transnational whistleblowers. Existing whistleblower programs have demonstrated that transnational whistleblowers account for a significant share of tips received in the U.S., with the SEC program receiving over 5,000 international whistleblower tips from 130 countries in the 2021 fiscal year alone. Compared with domestic whistleblowers, international whistleblowers often face significantly higher risks when making disclosures and do so without the protections of strong U.S. anti-retaliation laws, the NWC says. The NWC further stresses that FinCEN’s proposed rules fail to provide sufficient guidance for international whistleblowers on how to qualify for the maximum protections under the AML WIA (as recommended by the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development), and that it does not sufficiently guarantee international whistleblowers’ confidentiality.
The NWC identified what it says are inconsistencies between the proposed rule and the statute it implements – inconsistencies the NWC argues are forbidden under the Administrative Procedure Act. Under the AML WIA, whistleblowers retain the right to submit original information directly to any office within the Department of Justice (“DOJ”). This provides a large range of potential reporting channels for whistleblower tips, including DOJ embassy staff, who are often the U.S. government officials with whom international whistleblowers have the most contact. However, the NWC cites that FinCEN’s proposed rules do not establish procedures for handling information submitted to the DOJ; instead, it requires whistleblowers to file claims with FinCEN through its “Tip, Complaint, or Referral” form (“Form TCR”). The NWC argues that the proposed rules fail to allow whistleblowers to report to all channels allowed by the statute without facing prejudice in award adjudication.
The NWC also found that the proposed rules’ standards governing award eligibility and compensation timelines remain insufficiently defined, increasing the risk of whistleblower disqualification and threatening undue delays in compensation. NWC urges FinCEN to adopt more effective, whistleblower-friendly regulations to ensure the program successfully facilitates enforcement actions and advances national security interests.
“The whistleblower anti-corruption communities must insist that the final rules implement the law in line with Congressional intent,” says leading whistleblower attorney and NWC Chairman Stephen Kohn, “We’re at a pivotal turning point in the struggle against corruption. The AML Whistleblower Law is a potentially powerful tool, and the rules implementing it must effectuate that potentiality.”
The NWC launched a grassroots campaign to encourage whistleblowers supporters and anti-corruption advocates to comment on FinCEN’s proposed rules. The comment period for the proposed rule closes on June 1, 2026.
