A key data source available to FINCEN is reports of large cash transactions made to the Treasury according to terms of the Bank Secrecy Act. FAIS's unique analytic power arises primarily The most common motivation for criminal behavior is profit. The larger the criminal organization is, the greater the profit. By disrupting the ability to profit, law enforcement can focus on a vulnerable aspect of large criminal organizations. Money laundering is a complex process of placing the profit, usually cash, from illicit activity into the legitimate financial system, with the intent of obscuring the source, ownership, or use of the funds.

The Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FIN-CEN) AI system (FAIS) links and evaluates reports of large cash transactions to identify potential money laundering. The objective of FAIS is to discover previously unknown, potentially high-value leads for possible investigation. FAIS consists of an underlying database (that functions as a black-board), a graphic user interface, and several preprocessing and analysis modules. FAIS has been in operation at FINCEN since March 1993; a dedicated group of analysts process approximately 200,000 transactions a week, during which time over 400 investigative support reports corresponding to over $1 billion in potential laundered funds were developed.