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The FinCEN Files investigation is based on thousands of “suspicious activity reports” and other US government documents that BuzzFeed News has shared with the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists and more than 100 news organizations around the world. It offers an unprecedented view of global financial corruption, the banks enabling it, and the government agencies that fail to stop it. Prior to this reporting, very few SARs had ever been revealed. The FinCEN Files encompass more than 2,100. Here is what the investigation has uncovered:

Deadly Terror Networks And Drug Cartels Use Huge Banks To Finance Their Crimes. These Secret Documents Show How The Banks Profit.
Thousands of secret “suspicious activity reports” offer a never-before-seen picture of corruption and complicity — and how the government lets it flourish.
Here’s What Is Changing After The FinCEN Files Shook The World Of Banking
After BuzzFeed News and ICIJ published a joint investigation, officials across the globe began taking action to finally thwart illicit financial activity and the criminals who move money through Western banks.

Elizabeth Warren And Bernie Sanders Want Big Banking Reforms Following The FinCEN Files Investigations
Warren called for the creation of a new unit in the US Treasury Department, separate from FinCEN, “to investigate these types of financial crimes.”

Michael Flynn’s Bank Raised Alarms On Transactions, But Only After Trump Fired Him
Secret government documents identified more than $500,000 in payments originating in Turkey.

Documents Show Deutsche Bank’s Top Executives Were Warned It Had A Dirty Money Problem. Then A $10 Billion Scandal Broke.
When the $10 billion mirror trading scandal was exposed, little emerged about who its victims were or how much Deutsche’s executives knew. The FinCEN Files investigation shows how deep the rot went.

8 Things You Need To Know About The Dark Side Of The World's Biggest Banks, As Revealed In The FinCEN Files
These are the major findings after BuzzFeed News worked with more than 100 news organizations to unravel the secrets inside 2,100 confidential documents filed by banks across the globe.
Latest News
FinCEN Files: Banks Flagged Felix Sater for $100 Million In Suspicious Activity
Listen To The Fourth Episode Of Our FinCEN Files Podcast — The Whistleblowers
Here Is How Banks Have Responded To The FinCEN Files Investigation
European Lawmakers Are Looking For New Ways To Fight Money Laundering In The Wake Of The FinCEN Files Investigation
Congress Is Close To Ending Anonymous Shell Companies
Listen To The Third Episode Of Our FinCEN Files Podcast — The Notoriously ‘Naughty’ Bank


From Our ICIJ Partners
French prosecutors are investigating Tokyo Olympics bid for possible bribery
Secret documents reveal potential dark side of prepaid debit cards
FinCEN Files investigations from across Asia
Top-secret records show New Brunswick, Alberta companies received millions in suspicious transfers
Further Coverage

A Russian Billionaire With Close Ties To Putin Made Suspicious Payments To Nobu
The high-end sushi empire received $600,000 as part of a deal with Aras Agalarov, a friend of President Donald Trump's.

Listen To The First Episode Of Our FinCEN Files Podcast: How Terrorists Use Big Banks To Move Money
A trove of secret documents received by BuzzFeed News reveals how banks profit off terror and organized crime — and the ways that governments fail to stop it.

FinCEN Files: The Documents
These are some of the documents BuzzFeed News used for the FinCEN Files investigation.

How To Find A Company That Barely Even Exists
A $27.1 million shipment of fluorescent lamps. A bogus website. Elusive owners. A FinCEN Files detective story.

The Banker Was A Spy
The Russian bank VEB has long operated in the United States — despite dozens of suspicious activity reports outlining concerns that it was a threat to national security. A FinCEN Files investigation.

Standard Chartered’s Problems With Suspicious Clients Didn’t Go Away. Just Like These Two Ex-Employees Had Been Saying.
Confidential records from the FinCEN Files show that the bank was reporting its own suspicions about customers with links to Iran until at least 2017.

HSBC's Secret Files: The Inside Tale Of What Happened After It Apologized For Being Dirty
From the FinCEN Files investigation: Secret documents show how one of the world’s biggest banks kept doing business with companies that its own employees raised red flags about.

Explore Thousands Of Suspicious Payments Sent Around The World
This interactive map, created by the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists for the FinCEN Files investigation, shows $35 billion in transactions — reported as suspicious by banks and other financial institutions — making their way through the global financial system.

He Was At The Heart Of Two Of The Biggest Dirty Money Scandals In History. These Are His Secrets.
Alexander Perepilichnyy transformed himself from a money launderer to a whistleblower, and then he died. The company he founded began a new life in the criminal underworld. A FinCEN Files investigation.

We Got Our Hands On Thousands Of Secret Documents. Let’s Break Them Down.
Twenty-two thousand pages of never-before-released government documents. Hundreds of thousands of transactions. More than $2 trillion. A close accounting of BuzzFeed News’ unprecedented trove.

A Powerful Lawmaker Is Asking The British Government Hard Questions About The FinCEN Files Revelations
The FinCEN Files investigation showed the US government describing Britain as a “ higher-risk jurisdiction” for money laundering.