The Internal Revenue Service’s Criminal Investigation unit has embarked on a new initiative for engaging with financial institutions as it makes greater use of banking data to uncover tax and financial fraud. 

IRS-CI released FY24 Bank Secrecy Act metrics Friday, demonstrating how it uses BSA data to investigate financial crimes. During fiscal years 2022 through 2024, 87.3% of IRS-CI’s criminal investigations recommended for prosecution had a primary subject with a related BSA filing, and adjudicated cases led to a 97.3% conviction rate, with defendants receiving average prison sentences of 37 months. IRS-CI also leveraged BSA data to identify $21.1 billion in fraud linked to tax and financial crimes, seize $8.2 billion in assets tied to criminal activity, and obtain $1.4 billion in restitution for crime victims.

Under the BSA, which Congress passed in 1970, financial institutions use suspicious activity reports to notify the federal government when they see instances of potential money laundering or tax evasion. The SARs data is used by agencies like IRS-CI to probe money laundering and related financial crimes.

A new IRS-CI initiative known as CI-FIRST (Feedback in Response to Strategic Threats) aims to establish ongoing engagement with financial institutions. They will receive quantifiable results from IRS-CI on how the agency uses suspicious activity reports to investigate federal crimes. 

“Public-private partnerships thrive when everyone mutually benefits, and to enhance our partnership with the financial industry, we plan to launch CI-FIRST which will promote information-sharing, streamline processes and demonstrate how valuable BSA data is to criminal investigations,” said IRS-CI Chief Guy Ficco in a statement.

As part of the CI-FIRST program, IRS-CI plans to streamline subpoena requests and share pointers with financial institutions on what to include in suspicious activity reports to maximize their impact. The program will address what’s working and what can be improved, offering continuous lines of communication between partners. IRS-CI headquarters will work with larger financial institutions that have a national and international presence, while its field office personnel will work with regional and community banks and credit unions.

IRS-CI special agents ran an average of 966,900 searches each year against currency transaction reports during the last three fiscal years. Close to 1,600 cases were opened in FY24 with at least one currency transaction report on the primary subject. The data also shows that 67.4% of cases opened by IRS-CI had a subject with one or more currency transaction reports below $40,000, with 50% of currency transaction reports involving amounts less than $22,230.

BSA data has also proven to be effective in helping IRS-CI combat narcotics trafficking and pandemic-era tax fraud. Since FY20, IRS-CI used BSA data to initiate nearly 1,300 investigations with ties to fentanyl and investigate alleged employee retention credit fraud totaling $5.5 billion.

The Securities and Exchange Commission voted to end its legal defense of the climate-related disclosure rule it approved last year under the Biden administration.

The climate disclosure rule was facing numerous lawsuits from business groups and a temporary stay imposed by a court, the SEC had already paused it last April after narrowly approving a watered-down rule last March. The former SEC chairman, Gary Gensler, who had pushed for the rule, stepped down in January and acting chairman, Mark Uyeda, who had voted against the rule, announced in February that he was directing the SEC staff to ask a federal appeals court not to schedule the case for argument. He cited a recent presidential memorandum from the Trump administration imposing a regulatory freeze, and he effectively paused the litigation. The vote on Thursday effectively suspends the rule.

“The goal of today’s Commission action and notification to the court is to cease the Commission’s involvement in the defense of the costly and unnecessarily intrusive climate change disclosure rules,” Uyeda said in a statement Thursday.

The SEC noted that states and private parties have challenged the rules, and the litigation was consolidated in the Eighth Circuit Court of Appals. SEC staff sent a letter to the court stating that the Commission was withdrawing its defense of the rules and that Commission counsel are no longer authorized to advance the arguments in the brief the Commission had filed. The letter stated that the SEC yields any oral argument time back to the court.

One of the SEC commissioners blasted the move and pointed to the arduous, years-long process of crafting the climate rule. “By way of politics, the current Commission would like to dismantle that rule. And they would like to do so unlawfully,” said SEC commissioner Caroline Crenshaw in a statement Thursday. “The Administrative Procedure Act governs the process by which we make rules. The APA prescribes a careful, considered framework that applies both to the promulgation of new rules and the rescission of existing ones. There are no backdoors or shortcuts. But that is exactly what the Commission attempts today. By its letter, we are apparently letting the Climate-Related Disclosures Rule stand but are withdrawing from its defense in court. This leaves other parties, including the court, in a strange and perhaps untenable situation. In effect, the majority of the Commission is crossing their fingers and rooting for the demise of this rule, while they eat popcorn on the sidelines.”

Environmental groups were critical of the SEC’s vote. “Climate change is a growing financial risk, and ending the SEC’s defense of its own climate disclosure rule is a dangerous retreat from investor protection,” said Ben Cushing, sustainable finance campaign director at the Sierra Club, in a statement. “Letting companies hide climate risks doesn’t make those risks any less real — it just makes it harder for investors to manage them and protect their long-term savings. The SEC is leaving investors in the dark at exactly the moment transparency and action is most needed.”

“The SEC was established to protect investors, and for more than 20 years, investors have clearly and overwhelmingly stated that they need more clear, consistent, and decision-useful information on companies’ exposure to climate-related financial risks,” said Steven M. Rothstein, Ceres’s managing director for the Ceres Accelerator for Sustainable Capital Markets, in a statement. “The ongoing acceleration of physical climate impacts, including the tragic fires in Los Angeles, has underscored the importance of transparency on these risks. Investors have clearly indicated they require better disclosure, with $50 trillion in assets under management broadly supportive of the rule adopted in March 2024. This is clearly a step backward in helping investors and other market participants have the information they need to manage climate-related financial risks.”  

Aprio has struck a deal to acquire RSM US LLP’s Professional Services+ practice in the U.S. and Canada. The PS+ practice serves nearly 80 firms across the U.S. and Canada and offers services related to strategy and leadership, talent development, business processes and operations, and access to group buying solutions. 

The deal is expected to close April 30, subject to closing conditions, and the PS+ practice will operate as part of Aprio effective May 1. The current leader of RSM’s PS+ practice, Dean Sengstock, will continue to lead it and join Aprio as a partner along with four other partners and over 30 team members. 

“In joining Aprio, we have a unique opportunity to carry forward our vision and customized approach for serving clients the way they want to be served,” Sengstock said in a statement Friday. “While we are joining a new firm, our team, the services we provide, and our commitment to exceptional client-centric service, remains the same.” 

Financial terms of the deal were not disclosed. RSM US, based in Chicago, ranked No. 5 on Accounting Today‘s 2025 list of the Top 100 Firms, with over $4 billion in annual revenue i fiscal year 2024, while Aprio, based in Atlanta, ranked No. 24 and earned over $485.34 million in annual revenue in FY 2024.

RSM had more than 17,000 partners, principals and employees in FY 2024. Of this total, 1,183 are partners and principals. Aprio has 204 partners. RSM’s Professional Services+ Practice expects to bring five partners and 30 team members to Aprio. 

“It is an honor to welcome the PS+ practice, clients and team to Aprio. RSM has provided an exceptional platform for the past four decades for the PS+ practice and we are committed to establishing a strong foundation to grow the practice at Aprio,” said Aprio CEO Richard Kopelman in a statement Friday. “With the addition of the PS+ practice, Aprio will include a robust community of complementary firms with unique opportunities for collaboration and growth as we invest in the future.” 

Aprio received a private equity investment last July from Charlesbank Capital Partners. Earlier this month, Aprio acquired JMS Advisory Group in Atlanta. Aprio has completed over 20 mergers and acquisitions since 2017.

“We believe this transaction enhances the PS+ team’s ability to continue supporting their clients, while enabling RSM to focus on our core assurance, tax and consulting service offerings for the middle market,” said RSM US LLP managing partner and CEO Brian Becker in a statement. “We are grateful to the PS+ team for their many contributions to RSM over the last 40 years.”  

Last October, RSM US and RSM UK announced plans to combine by the end of this year.