Planned budget cuts that would limit cooperation between regional investigators and the U.S. Treasury Department's financial intelligence unit would be nixed under the latest congressional appropriations bill.
A possible government shutdown slated for Saturday would force the U.S. agency in charge of collecting and maintaining Bank Secrecy Act data to operate with reduced staff, a government official said Thursday.
A proposed funding cut that would restrict some governmental access to a U.S. Bank Secrecy Act database could also make it harder for state examiners to vet banks and money services businesses, say critics of the plan.
The proposed cancellation of 142 federal bank data sharing agreements with state and local law enforcement agencies would not impact financial crime investigations, U.S. Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner said Wednesday.
The U.S. Treasury Department budgetary proposal to end direct access to its Bank Secrecy Act database by 142 law enforcement agencies would have a "destructive effect" on investigations by New York City's top prosecutor, a former Justice Department official said Thursday.
A planned cost-saving rollback of 142 federal bank data sharing agreements would hinder state and local investigations into suspected money laundering and terrorist financing, according to former law enforcement agents.
The U.S. Treasury Department's budget would see a four percent increase over last year's funding under a White House proposal scheduled to take effect in October.
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