The Western Hemisphere is a region of particular importance to the Treasury Department and critical to our mission of safeguarding the U.S. financial system. Our economic and financial institutions are fundamentally intertwined with those of our neighbors, most notably Mexico, a country confronting vicious transnational criminal organizations (TCOs) whose tentacles extend into the United States. Illicit financial activity in one corner of the region will inevitably find its way across our borders and into our financial institutions.