Help Save the AML Whistleblower Program: Submit Your Comment to FinCEN Before June 1

The U.S. Treasury Department’s Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN) has proposed implementing rules for the Anti-Money Laundering Whistleblower Improvement Act of 2022 (AML WIA) — and the public comment period closes June 1, 2026.

Congress passed the AML WIA to extend the proven Dodd-Frank whistleblower model — which has recovered more than $6.3 billion in sanctions since 2010 — to combat global money laundering, terrorist financing, drug-cartel networks, and sanctions evasion.

Whistleblower advocates have called it the most comprehensive whistleblower law ever passed. But Kohn, Kohn & Colapinto (KKC) and the National Whistleblower Center (NWC) warn that FinCEN’s proposed rules, published April 1, 2026, depart from congressional intent and could disqualify the very insiders the law was designed to incentivize.

Three Critical Failures in the Proposed Rules

After a comprehensive review, KKC and NWC identified three fundamental problems:

• Technical traps that punish good-faith whistleblowers. The proposed rules require whistleblowers to file an initial report on a specific government form before doing almost anything else — including contacting a journalist, reporting to their employer, or alerting an NGO or foreign law enforcement agency. That narrow definition of “voluntary” reporting conflicts with how whistleblowers actually operate, and with the plain text of the AML WIA.
• International whistleblowers left exposed. Money laundering is a transnational crime, but the proposed rules offer almost no guidance for whistleblowers reporting from outside the United States — where U.S. anti-retaliation laws do not apply and where sources have been imprisoned, tortured, and killed for coming forward.
• Exclusions Congress never authorized. The proposed rules disqualify entire categories of potential whistleblowers — including foreign officials and corporate compliance officers — that Congress did not exclude. Under the Supreme Court’s 2024 decision in Loper Bright Enterprises v. Raimondo, agencies can no longer stretch statutory language past its plain meaning.

A 76-Page Comment to FinCEN

On April 30, 2026, the National Whistleblower Center submitted a 76-page comment to FinCEN identifying these and other deficiencies.

The comment asks FinCEN to adopt a plain-language definition of “voluntary” reporting; provide full confidentiality and anonymity protections for international whistleblowers; remove disqualifications Congress never authorized; establish clear procedures for reporting through the Department of Justice; and ensure timely payment when sanctions are collected.

“We’re at a pivotal turning point in the struggle against corruption,” said Stephen M. Kohn, founding partner of Kohn, Kohn & Colapinto and Chairman of the National Whistleblower Center. “The AML Whistleblower Law is a potentially powerful tool, and the rules implementing it must effectuate that potentiality.”

Public Comments Are Not Symbolic — They Are Enforceable

Under the Administrative Procedure Act, federal agencies are required to consider substantive comments before a rule can be finalized. Comments identifying violations of the underlying statute become part of the official record and can be used to challenge the final rule in federal court.

When Senators Charles Grassley, Elizabeth Warren, and Raphael Warnock wrote to FinCEN in 2024 demanding full implementation of the AML whistleblower program, they were invoking that same principle.

Take Action Before June 1, 2026

The National Whistleblower Center has provided instructions and a template to submit your comment fast and direct.