WASHINGTON, D.C. — Federal officials are launching an aggressive two-pronged push that pairs a sweeping financial enforcement operation along the southwest border with a sharp policy reset of a major economic development tax credit program.
On December 22, the U.S. Department of the Treasury announced that its Financial Crimes Enforcement Network has begun a multi-tiered operation scrutinizing more than 100 money services businesses operating near the U.S.-Mexico border. These businesses, which handle services such as money transfers and currency exchange outside traditional banks, are considered particularly vulnerable to exploitation by criminal networks.
“At President Trump’s direction, the Treasury Department is utilizing all tools to stop terrorist cartels, drug traffickers, and human smugglers,” Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said. “This sweeping operation will help root out potential cartel-related money laundering from the U.S. financial system.”
The enforcement effort relies on the analysis of more than one million Currency Transaction Reports and 87,000 Suspicious Activity Reports submitted to FinCEN. As a result, the agency has issued six notices of investigation, sent dozens of examination referrals to the Internal Revenue Service, and delivered more than 50 compliance outreach letters. Treasury officials emphasized the operation is ongoing and could lead to civil penalties, injunctions, or criminal referrals for willful violations of the Bank Secrecy Act.
FinCEN officials said the initiative reflects a broader modernization push at Treasury, leveraging high-performance data processing to identify illicit financial networks more quickly and at greater scale. The operation is being conducted in coordination with the IRS, the Homeland Security Task Force, and state and federal law enforcement partners.
A day later, Treasury unveiled a parallel policy shift tied to economic development. On December 23, the department announced a double round of New Markets Tax Credit awards covering both 2024 and 2025, alongside significant reforms to how the program will be enforced now that it has been made permanent under the One Big Beautiful Bill.
“Under President Trump’s leadership, the One Big Beautiful Bill made the NMTC program permanent,” Bessent said. “Investors, businesses, and communities now have the long-term certainty they need to plan ahead. With the NMTC program now permanent, it is imperative that these federal incentives are focused on lasting job creation rather than the latest political trends.”
Treasury officials said the Community Development Financial Institutions Fund will tighten allocation agreements, increase monitoring, and enforce compliance with federal anti-discrimination laws. Remedies for violations could include decertifying community development entities, terminating unused credits, or clawing back previously awarded tax benefits.
The newly announced NMTC allocations include a 20 percent increase in investments directed to rural and non-metro communities, with funding prioritized for domestic manufacturing, small business expansion, affordable housing, and rural hospitals.
Taken together, the announcements signal an assertive end-of-year posture from Treasury — combining data-driven enforcement aimed at national security risks with a recalibration of federal incentives to emphasize economic fundamentals over ideological priorities.
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