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Treasury Audit Report Analyzes Responses to Threats by Office of Terrorist Financing and Financial Crimes
On May 23, the Treasury Department’s Office of Inspector General issued an audit report presenting the results of its study into how, and to what extent, the Treasury’s Office of Terrorist Financing and Financial Crimes (TFFC) addresses threats to international financial systems. The OIG reviewed TFFC—which is responsible for leading and assisting tasks forces, including the Anti-Money Laundering Task Force—to determine how its collaboration efforts with the national security community and other federal agencies identifies and addresses “threats to the international financial system from money laundering and other forms of illicit finance.” According to the findings, while the majority of federal agency officials interviewed for the report were satisfied with TFFC’s collaboration efforts overall, others believed enhanced collaboration efforts were warranted. The OIG also found that TFFC failed to establish “policies or procedures for collaboration or a mechanism to monitor, evaluate, and report the results of its collaborative efforts as recommended by the Government Accountability Office” in a 2009 report. Accordingly, the OIG recommended that TFFC develop and improve upon the necessary policies and procedures needed to monitor the effectiveness of “interagency collaboration,” as well as address areas of concern regarding collaboration efforts with foreign countries. TFFC agreed with these recommendations and stated it is currently working to improve interagency collaboration.