The Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN) issued guidance that it said aims to encourage appropriate, voluntary cross-border sharing of information between and among financial institutions, including appropriate foreign ones. This information sharing can help financial institutions combat money laundering, terrorist financing and illicit finance activity involving drug trafficking organizations, foreign terrorist organizations and fraudsters. “The guidance clarifies that while financial institutions are prohibited from sharing Suspicious Activity Reports (SARs), as well as information that would reveal the existence of a SAR, the Bank Secrecy Act and its implementing regulations generally do not prohibit cross-border information sharing,” the release said. In the guidance, FinCEN said that financial institutions are better able to detect and combat illicit finance activity if they share information rather than keeping it siloed. This information can include, when appropriate, transaction records, customer and account information, and investigative materials, according to the guidance.