FinCEN Exchange on Ransomware

FinCEN has announced it will convene a FinCEN Exchange in Aug. 2021 with representatives from financial institutions, other key industry stakeholders, and federal government agencies to discuss ongoing concerns regarding ransomware, as well as efforts by the public and private sectors. The FinCEN Exchange will build upon FinCEN’s Nov. 2020 event on ransomware. FinCEN anticipates that this FinCEN Exchange will assist its government and private sector partners to inform next steps to address ransomware and focus resources to mitigate the threat. This announcement is part of a government-wide effort to combat ransomware.

According to FinCEN, ransomware attacks are a growing concern for the financial sector, given that financial institutions can be targeted by ransomware attacks. Additionally, concerns of reputational and financial integrity arise due to the role financial institutions might play in the processing of ransom payments. Efforts to detect and report ransomware payments are vital to prevent and deter ransomware attacks, and to hold these attackers accountable for their crimes. In Oct. 2020, FinCEN issued  Advisory FIN-2020-A006 to alert financial institutions of predominant trends, typologies, and potential indicators of ransomware and associated money laundering activities. In addition, in June 2021, FinCEN highlighted ransomware as a particularly acute cybercrime concern in its issuance of the first government-wide priorities for anti-money laundering and countering the financing of terrorism policy.