Citi hires US Treasury anti-money laundering chief Gacki as global head of sanctions

When one of the most powerful sanctions officials in the US government decides to cross over to the private sector, it tells you something about where the action is heading. Andrea Gacki, director of the Treasury Department’s Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN), is leaving government to become Citigroup’s global head of sanctions, effective October 1, 2026.

The hire is a significant one. Gacki brings over 25 years of Treasury Department experience and previously served as director of the Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) from 2018 to 2023. That’s the office that actually designs and enforces US sanctions.

Why this matters beyond Wall Street

During Gacki’s time running OFAC, the office oversaw the sweeping sanctions package targeting Russia following its invasion of Ukraine in 2022. That effort fundamentally reshaped how financial institutions, including crypto exchanges, think about compliance infrastructure. OFAC under Gacki’s watch also sanctioned Tornado Cash, the Ethereum-based mixing service, in a move that sent shockwaves through DeFi and raised existential questions about whether code could be sanctioned like a person.

Citi’s Chief Compliance Officer Tom Anderson framed the hire as a response to what he called a complex sanctions landscape.

Gacki also served as acting Under Secretary for Terrorism and Financial Intelligence, a role that sits at the intersection of national security and financial regulation.

The revolving door and what it signals

For crypto firms, Gacki’s departure from FinCEN creates an immediate question: who replaces her? No successor has been announced yet, and an acting director is expected to step in. Leadership transitions at FinCEN matter because the agency has been at the center of several crypto-specific regulatory proposals, including rules around reporting requirements for digital asset transactions and the controversial proposed rulemaking around self-hosted wallets.

Before joining Treasury, Gacki worked at the Department of Justice, giving her a dual perspective on both enforcement and policy.

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