Congress Includes Substantial Anticorruption Funding in Latest Package to Address Crisis in Ukraine

A statement from Transparency International U.S.
May 19, 2022

Today, Congress passed a $40 billion military and humanitarian Ukrainian aid package. The legislation includes $52 million in funding for stepped-up efforts to identify sanctioned assets in the U.S. financial system, and for upgrading U.S. systems for detecting illicit finance in the U.S. financial system. Specifically, funding would go toward the Treasury Department’s Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN) and the Office of Terrorism and Financial Intelligence (TFI), among other agencies.

Transparency International U.S. Executive Director Gary Kalman said the following on the passage of the bill:

This funding comes at a critical time in our international fight against dirty money and the antidemocratic aggression and violence it funds. These additional funds are an acknowledgement by Congress that our financial crimes enforcement mechanisms are critical to ensuring that we meet our national security goals for the immediate crisis and any future conflicts. It’s clear that those tasked with monitoring and protecting our financial system from sanctioned and other illicit funds are not adequately resourced to do the important job before them. 

Today’s actions are also a significant step toward strengthening American national security and safeguarding our financial system from exploitation by foreign corrupt actors such as Russia and China. With this new allocation, Congress puts FinCEN and other financial crimes enforcement agencies on a path to do their critical work effectively.

Every step our government takes to make it harder for corrupt foreign officials to manipulate our financial system is a victory against kleptocracy abroad. I applaud Congress for taking this necessary step and, in particular, Appropriations Committees leadership including Sens. Leahy, Shelby, Van Hollen, and Hyde Smith and Reps. DeLauro, Granger, Quigley and Womack.

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Transparency International U.S. is part of the world’s largest coalition against corruption. In collaboration with national chapters in more than 100 countries, through research, policy development, and advocacy, we are leading the fight to turn our vision of a world free from corruption into reality.

Related Resources

• Read a summary of the spending package;
• Read a letter from a bipartisan group of U.S. House members urging congressional appropriators to “significantly increase funding for FinCEN” for fiscal year 2022; 
• Read a guest opinion piece that appeared in Foreign Policy magazine.

Media Contact

Gary Kalman, Executive Director, Transparency International U.S.
Telephone: +1 215-439-7090
Email: gkalman@transparency.org
Twitter: @TransparencyUSA