Tag Archives: Treasury Department

The Department of the Treasury’s office of foreign assets control has released guidance outlining sanctions compliance best practices for virtual currency industry stakeholders as part of efforts to counter ransomware threats. A report from the department’s Financial Crimes Enforcement Network analyzes trends related to ransomware.

The Senate on Thursday voted 50-48 to pass a bill that would increase the U.S. debt limit by $480 billion, which the Department of the Treasury said could help the country pay its bills through Dec. 3rd. House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer, D-Md., said lawmakers are expected to vote on the bill on Oct. 12th.

Sens. Maggie Hassan, D-N.H., and Joni Ernst, R-Iowa, have proposed a bill that would direct the Department of the Treasury to submit to Congress a report on virtual currencies and their global use as part of efforts to improve oversight of mining of cryptocurrencies overseas.

The Department of the Treasury has initiated several measures to fight ransomware and one of those is the announcement of the first sanctions designation against virtual currency exchange SUEX for its role in facilitating transactions for threat actors involved in ransomware attacks. “Additionally, any entities 50% or more owned by one or more designated persons are also blocked,” the department noted.

Maximus announced on Tuesday that the company has secured two Internal Revenue Service (IRS) contracts potentially worth a combined $151 million. Both contracts were secured in the General Services Administration (GSA) Alliant two contract vehicles. The first contract is a potential $76 million task order to provide Masterfile System Programming Support Services.

The Department of the Treasury’s bureau of the fiscal service has released a playbook that seeks to help federal agencies accelerate digitization by advancing automation and innovation to reduce manual processes, improve customer experience and achieve cost savings. The Digital End-to-End Efficiency (DEEE) Playbook from the bureau’s office of financial innovation and transformation intends to enable digital transformation through the implementation of a step-by-step framework.

Wally Adeyemo, formerly president of the Obama Foundation, has received Senate confirmation to serve as the Department of the Treasury's deputy secretary. His professional record includes work that has supported U.S. national security and economic pursuits, Janet Yellen. Yellen said Adeyemo helped the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau rise up from the great recession.

Sonny Bhagowalia, who recently served as the U.S. Customs and Border Protection's (CBP) acting chief information officer, has been appointed to take up the role on a full-time basis. Bhagowalia held the CIO role at the Interior and Treasury departments, Hawaii's state government and the Bureau of Indian Affairs, making his new CBP job his fifth time as a government CIO.

Nancy Sieger, who has been the Internal Revenue Service's (IRS) acting chief information officer for almost two years, will take up the role on a full-time basis. She served as the agency's associate CIO for applications development and held other roles related to tax reform and operations in the agency.

Justin Marsico, chief data officer of the Bureau of the Fiscal Service, said the bureau’s pilot effort to use artificial intelligence to process documents helps reduce friction for remote employees. The concept is meant to “recognize and build on the customer experience journey-mapping that VA has led on,” Kshemendra Paul noted.