Senior Executive William Langford to Leave FinCEN

By Dennis Lormel

William Langford, Associate Director of Regulatory Policy and Programs, Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN), will be leaving the agency next month to join JPMorgan Chase & Co. This represents the second significant personnel loss at FinCEN since February when former Director Bill Fox left to join Bank of America.

Langford joined FinCEN, along with Fox, in January 2004, when they both left main Treasury to assume their leadership positions. Like Fox, Langford was highly visible and accessible with the financial sector. He worked diligently to foster a positive working relationship between government and industry.

As noted above, William was accessible and readily participated in industry Anti-Money Laundering (AML) and Compliance conferences. Last week, for example, he participated in the Money Laundering Alert Annual AML Conference. There were more than 1,500 attendees. William was gracious enough to participate in five separate and distinct panel discussions. This required considerable preparation. Based on his executive position and the sensitivity of issues, William was repeatedly barraged with difficult and complex questions. He was straightforward and unwavering in his responses.

William possesses a remarkable grasp of the myriad issues, conflicts and concerns surrounding the Bank Secrecy Act and the respective interests of industry, law enforcement and the regulators. He served the government with distinction and left an impression of credibility with anyone who listened to his presentations at the many forums he spoke at. His outreach efforts served FinCEN well.

Langford�s departure represents another tough loss for FinCEN. He was definitely one of the good guys in the fight against money laundering and terrorist financing. I would like to take the opportunity to thank William for his outstanding government service and wish him well in his future endeavors.

My schedule has precluded me from writing posts on the Counterterrorism Blog on a regular basis. A topic that deserves attention is the turnover of senior and vital personnel in government service. There are a number of dimensions that warrant discussion. I plan to discuss certain of these dimensions. In conclusion, I believe we can rest assured that, despite the losses of talented individuals like Bill Fox and William Langford, FinCEN and its companion government agencies will move forward and continue to excel in the fight against money laundering and terrorist financing.

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