The Gun Violence Prevention Through Financial Intelligence Act

The Act would help banks to detect and report suspicious activity related to mass shootings or criminal firearms activity.

• The Act would require FinCEN to develop an advisory that would provide guidance to banks on how to detect and report suspicious activity related to (1) how mass shooters procure the firearms and firearm accessories used in their acts of terrorism, and (2) the ways that the U.S. firearms market is criminally exploited to facilitate gun violence in America.
• Reporting has been done on how mass shooters have relied on credit cards to stockpile the weapons used in their acts of domestic terrorism, but more information is needed. The Act would require FinCEN to collect and analyze the financial data of banks in order to identify the types of suspicious financial activity that may preclude a mass shooting or domestic terrorist attack.
  • If after one year FinCEN does not have enough data to develop an advisory, the Act would require FinCEN to submit a report to Congress detailing the information collected and why it was insufficient.

Banks already have a legal obligation to detect and report suspicious activity to FinCEN.

• U.S. banks are required by federal law to have programs in place to detect suspicious financial activity and submit Suspicious Activity Reports when they detect a known or suspected violation of federal law or a suspicious transaction related to money laundering, fraud, or terrorist financing. 
• FinCEN periodically issues advisories to assist banks with their suspicious activity reporting obligations. Through these advisories, FinCEN gives banks guidance on certain threats or activities and sets out the financial indicators that banks can use to detect those threats or activities.
  • Recent FinCEN advisories include guidance on how to identify financial transactions related to human smuggling and trafficking fentanyl.
• An advisory is not a formal regulation or rulemaking, rather it is interpretive guidance concerning the application of the Bank Secrecy Act and the anti-money laundering regulations. FinCEN advisories do not create new regulatory obligations.