TUCSON and PHOENIX, Ariz.—On June 11 and 12, Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN) Director Andrea Gacki and senior FinCEN leaders traveled to Arizona where they participated in two beneficial ownership reporting outreach events and led a counter-fentanyl FinCEN Exchange.
Over the last two days, Director Gacki participated in beneficial ownership outreach events in Tucson and Phoenix to engage with small business owners and other key stakeholders about these new reporting requirements. Under the Corporate Transparency Act—a bipartisan law enacted to curb illicit finance—many companies are now required to report information to FinCEN about who ultimately owns or controls them. At both events, Director Gacki expressed her gratitude to Senator Kyrsten Sinema’s office for their assistance in coordinating these opportunities to connect with Arizonans about these important requirements that will make it harder for criminals to operate through anonymous shell companies. To find out more about the reporting process, visit https://www.fincen.gov/boi.
The counter-fentanyl trafficking FinCEN Exchange event in Tucson yesterday was the second of 10 planned sessions in FinCEN’s “Promoting Regional Outreach to Educate Communities on the Threat of Fentanyl” (or PROTECT) information-sharing series that will be held through the remainder of 2024 in U.S. cities that are highly impacted by the opioid epidemic. Launched last month as part of the U.S. Treasury Department’s Counter-Fentanyl Strike Force, PROTECT events bring law enforcement agencies and financial institutions together to share typologies and approaches on combatting illicit fentanyl trafficking. During Wednesday’s session, financial industry representatives offered their perspectives on the opioid crisis. Federal officials provided briefings on information critical to tracking illicit financial flows such as typologies and red-flag indicators of fentanyl-related activity, and law enforcement representatives discussed the types of information that are most valuable when financial institutions report suspicious activity.
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