Enhancing Treasury's Anti-Terror Tools Act

Summary: Enhancing Treasury's Anti-Terror Tools Act  (Sec. 2) This bill instructs the Department of the Treasury to report to Congress on the employment by U.S. embassies of full-time and temporary Treasury attaches and their role in advancing U.S. anti-terrorism financing interests, including concerning:    how Treasury's interests relating to anti-terror finance, money laundering, and related illicit finance issues are handled at other embassies;  issues identified by Treasury attaches concerning anti-terror finance, money laundering, and related illicit finance;   recommendations to improve coordination between Treasury and foreign financial ministries of efforts to block the financing of terror, money laundering, and related illicit finance; and   whether Treasury's interests relating to anti-terror finance, money laundering, or related illicit finance issues are thought to be underrepresented in some embassies or regions.  (Sec. 3) The bill revises Treasury's authority to issue an order imposing recordkeeping and reporting requirements upon financial institutions and nonfinancial trade or business groups in certain geographic areas regarding transactions for the payment, receipt, or transfer of U.S. coins or currency (or other monetary instruments as Treasury may describe). Such an order may include all funds, not just U.S. coins or currency, involved in such transactions.  (Sec. 4) Treasury shall study:  the advisability and implications of transforming the Office of Terrorism and Financial Intelligence into a stand-alone bureau of Treasury, the potential efficacy of requiring banking regulators to establish a pilot technical assistance program for depository institutions and credit unions that furnish account services to money services businesses serving individuals in Somalia and whether it could improve the ability of Americans to legitimately send funds through transparent and easily monitored channels, and the potential impact of allowing money services businesses to share their state examinations with depository institutions and credit unions.   (Sec. 6) The bill expresses the sense of Congress that Treasury should work with finance ministry counterparts worldwide to spur the development of entities similar to its Office of Intelligence and Analysis to integrate the intelligence community with anti-money laundering and counter-terrorist financing efforts. 

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

    This Act may be cited as the ``Enhancing Treasury's Anti-Terror 
Tools Act''.

SEC. 2. EXAMINING THE DEPARTMENT OF THE TREASURY'S COUNTER-TERROR 
              FINANCING ROLE IN EMBASSIES.

    Within 180 days of the enactment of this Act, the Secretary of the 
Treasury shall issue a report to the Committees on Financial Services 
and Foreign Affairs of the House of Representatives and the Committees 
on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs and Foreign Relations of the 
Senate containing--
            (1) a list of the United States embassies in which a full-
        time Department of the Treasury attache is stationed;
            (2) a list of the United States embassies at which a 
        Department of the Treasury attache is assigned for temporary 
        duty, the length of such assignments, and the reason why such 
        assignments are not considered to be a permanent assignments;
            (3) how the Department of the Treasury's interests relating 
        to anti-terror finance, money laundering, and related illicit 
        finance issues are handled at other embassies, including a 
        discussion of the reporting structure by which such issues are 
        brought to the direct attention of the ambassador;
            (4) a description of the role the Department of the 
        Treasury attaches play in advancing America's anti-terrorism 
        financing interests;
            (5) a discussion of patterns, trends, or other issues 
        identified by Department of the Treasury attaches in the 
        previous year concerning anti-terror finance, money laundering, 
        and related illicit finance;
            (6) recommendations to improve coordination between the 
        Department of the Treasury and foreign financial ministries of 
        efforts to block the financing of terror, money laundering, and 
        related illicit finance; and
            (7) a discussion of whether the Department of the 
        Treasury's interests relating to anti-terror finance, money 
        laundering, or related illicit finance issues are thought to be 
        under-represented in some embassies or regions.

SEC. 3. CLARIFYING REQUIREMENTS FOR RECORDKEEPING.

    (a) In General.--Section 5326 of title 31, United States Code, is 
amended--
            (1) in the heading of such section, by striking ``coin and 
        currency'';
            (2) in subsection (a)--
                    (A) by striking ``subtitle and'' and inserting 
                ``subtitle or to''; and
                    (B) in paragraph (1)(A), by striking ``United 
                States coins or currency (or such other monetary 
                instruments as the Secretary may describe in such 
                order)'' and inserting ``funds (as the Secretary may 
                describe in such order),''; and
            (3) in subsection (b)--
                    (A) in paragraph (1)(A), by striking ``coins or 
                currency (or monetary instruments)'' and inserting 
                ``funds''; and
                    (B) in paragraph (2), by striking ``coins or 
                currency (or such other monetary instruments as the 
                Secretary may describe in the regulation or order)'' 
                and inserting ``funds (as the Secretary may describe in 
                the regulation or order)''.
    (b) Clerical Amendment.--The table of contents for chapter 53 of 
title 31, United States Code, is amended in the item relating to 
section 5326 by striking ``coin and currency''.

SEC. 4. STUDY OF BUREAU STATUS.

    (a) Study.--The Secretary of the Treasury shall carry out a study 
on the advisability and implications of transforming the Office of 
Terrorism and Financial Intelligence into a standalone bureau of the 
Department of the Treasury, and the effects such a move would have on 
the Department of the Treasury's efforts to stop money laundering, the 
financing of terror, and related illicit finance.
    (b) Report.--Within 270 days of the date of the enactment of this 
Act, the Secretary of the Treasury shall issue a report to the 
Committee on Financial Services and the Permanent Select Committee on 
Intelligence of the House of Representatives and the Committee on 
Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs and the Select Committee on 
Intelligence of the Senate containing all findings and determinations 
made in carrying out the study required under subsection (a).

SEC. 5. IMPROVING ANTI-TERROR FINANCE MONITORING OF FUNDS TRANSFERS.

    (a) Study.--To improve the Department of the Treasury's ability to 
better track cross-border fund transfers and identify potential 
financing of terror or other illicit finance, the Secretary of the 
Treasury shall carry out a study to assess--
            (1) the potential efficacy of requiring banking regulators 
        to establish a pilot program to provide technical assistance to 
        depository institutions and credit unions that wish to provide 
        account services to money services businesses serving 
        individuals in Somalia;
            (2) whether such a pilot program could be a model for 
        improving the ability of Americans to legitimately send funds 
        to their loved ones through transparent and easily monitored 
        channels; and
            (3) the potential impact of allowing money services 
        businesses to share their State examinations with depository 
        institutions and credit unions, or if another mechanism could 
        be found to allow a similar exchange of information that would 
        give such depository institutions and credit unions a better 
        understanding of whether an individual money services business 
        is adequately meeting its anti-money laundering and counter 
        terror financing obligations to combat money laundering, the 
        financing of terror, or related illicit finance.
    (b) Report.--Within 270 days of the date of the enactment of this 
Act, the Secretary of the Treasury shall issue a report to the 
Committees on Financial Services and Foreign Affairs of the House of 
Representatives and the Committees on Banking, Housing, and Urban 
Affairs and Foreign Relations of the Senate containing all findings and 
determinations made in carrying out the study required under subsection 
(a).
    (c) Money Services Business Defined.--For purposes of this section, 
the term ``money services business'' has the meaning given that term 
under section 1010.100 of title 31, Code of Federal Regulations.

SEC. 6. SENSE OF CONGRESS.

    It is the sense of the Congress that the Secretary of the Treasury, 
acting in the Secretary's own capacity and through the Under Secretary 
for Terrorism and Financial Crimes, should work with finance ministry 
counterparts worldwide to spur the development within such ministries 
of entities similar to the Department of the Treasury's Office of 
Intelligence and Analysis to more solidly integrate the intelligence 
community with anti-money laundering and counter-terrorist financing 
efforts.

            Passed the House of Representatives July 11, 2016.

            Attest:

                                                 KAREN L. HAAS,

                                                                 Clerk.