116TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 2513 

AN ACT 

To ensure that persons who form corporations or limited 

liability companies in the United States disclose the beneficial owners of those corporations or limited liability 

companies, in order to prevent wrongdoers from exploiting United States corporations and limited liability companies for criminal gain, to assist law enforcement in 

detecting, preventing, and punishing terrorism, money 

laundering, and other misconduct involving United States 

corporations and limited liability companies, and for 

other purposes. 
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1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 

3 DIVISION A—CORPORATE 

4 TRANSPARENCY ACT OF 2019 

5 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

6 (a) IN GENERAL.—This Act may be cited as the 

7 ‘‘Corporate Transparency Act of 2019’’. 

8 (b) REFERENCES TO THIS ACT.—In this division— 

9 (1) any reference to ‘‘this Act’’ shall be deemed 

10 a reference to ‘‘this division’’; and 

11 (2) except as otherwise expressly provided, any 

12 reference to a section or other provision shall be 

13 deemed a reference to that section or other provision 

14 of this division. 

15 SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 

16 Congress finds the following: 

17 (1) Nearly 2,000,000 corporations and limited 

18 liability companies are being formed under the laws 

19 of the States each year. 

20 (2) Very few States require information about 

21 the beneficial owners of the corporations and limited 

22 liability companies formed under their laws. 

23 (3) A person forming a corporation or limited 

24 liability company within the United States typically 

25 provides less information at the time of incorpora-
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1 tion than is needed to obtain a bank account or driv2 er’s license and typically does not name a single ben3 eficial owner. 

4 (4) Criminals have exploited State formation 

5 procedures to conceal their identities when forming 

6 corporations or limited liability companies in the 

7 United States, and have then used the newly created 

8 entities to commit crimes affecting interstate and 

9 international commerce such as terrorism, prolifera10 tion financing, drug and human trafficking, money 

11 laundering, tax evasion, counterfeiting, piracy, secu12 rities fraud, financial fraud, and acts of foreign cor13 ruption. 

14 (5) Law enforcement efforts to investigate cor15 porations and limited liability companies suspected 

16 of committing crimes have been impeded by the lack 

17 of available beneficial ownership information, as doc18 umented in reports and testimony by officials from 

19 the Department of Justice, the Department of 

20 Homeland Security, the Department of the Treas21 ury, and the Government Accountability Office, and 

22 others. 

23 (6) In July 2006, the leading international 

24 antimoney laundering standard-setting body, the Fi25 nancial Action Task Force on Money Laundering (in 
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1 this section referred to as the ‘‘FATF’’), of which 

2 the United States is a member, issued a report that 

3 criticizes the United States for failing to comply 

4 with a FATF standard on the need to collect bene5 ficial ownership information and urged the United 

6 States to correct this deficiency by July 2008. In 

7 December 2016, FATF issued another evaluation of 

8 the United States, which found that little progress 

9 has been made over the last ten years to address 

10 this problem. It identified the ‘‘lack of timely access 

11 to adequate, accurate and current beneficial owner12 ship information’’ as a fundamental gap in United 

13 States efforts to combat money laundering and ter14 rorist finance. 

15 (7) In response to the 2006 FATF report, the 

16 United States has urged the States to obtain bene17 ficial ownership information for the corporations and 

18 limited liability companies formed under the laws of 

19 such States. 

20 (8) In contrast to practices in the United 

21 States, all 28 countries in the European Union are 

22 required to have corporate registries that include 

23 beneficial ownership information. 

24 (9) To reduce the vulnerability of the United 

25 States to wrongdoing by United States corporations 
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1 and limited liability companies with hidden owners, 

2 to protect interstate and international commerce 

3 from criminals misusing United States corporations 

4 and limited liability companies, to strengthen law en5 forcement investigations of suspect corporations and 

6 limited liability companies, to set a clear, universal 

7 standard for State incorporation practices, and to 

8 bring the United States into compliance with inter9 national anti-money laundering standards, Federal 

10 legislation is needed to require the collection of bene11 ficial ownership information for the corporations and 

12 limited liability companies formed under the laws of 

13 such States. 

14 SEC. 3. TRANSPARENT INCORPORATION PRACTICES. 

15 (a) IN GENERAL.— 

16 (1) AMENDMENT TO THE BANK SECRECY

17 ACT.—Chapter 53 of title 31, United States Code, is 

18 amended by inserting after section 5332 the fol19 lowing new section: 

20 ‘‘§ 5333 Transparent incorporation practices 

21 ‘‘(a) REPORTING REQUIREMENTS.— 

22 ‘‘(1) BENEFICIAL OWNERSHIP REPORTING.— 

23 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—Each applicant to 

24 form a corporation or limited liability company 

25 under the laws of a State or Indian Tribe shall 
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1 file a report with FinCEN containing a list of 

2 the beneficial owners of the corporation or lim3 ited liability company that— 

4 ‘‘(i) except as provided in paragraphs 

5 (3) and (4), and subject to paragraph (2), 

6 identifies each beneficial owner by— 

7 ‘‘(I) full legal name; 

8 ‘‘(II) date of birth; 

9 ‘‘(III) current residential or busi10 ness street address; and 

11 ‘‘(IV) a unique identifying num12 ber from a non-expired passport 

13 issued by the United States, a non-ex14 pired personal identification card, or a 

15 non-expired driver’s license issued by 

16 a State; and 

17 ‘‘(ii) if the applicant is not a bene18 ficial owner, also provides the identification 

19 information described in clause (i) relating 

20 to such applicant. 

21 ‘‘(B) UPDATED INFORMATION.—Each cor22 poration or limited liability company formed 

23 under the laws of a State or Indian Tribe 

24 shall— 
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1 ‘‘(i) submit to FinCEN an annual fil2 ing containing a list of— 

3 ‘‘(I) the current beneficial owners 

4 of the corporation or limited liability 

5 company and the information de6 scribed in subparagraph (A) for each 

7 such beneficial owner; and 

8 ‘‘(II) any changes in the bene9 ficial owners of the corporation or lim10 ited liability company during the pre11 vious year; and 

12 ‘‘(ii) pursuant to any rule issued by 

13 the Secretary of the Treasury under sub14 paragraph (C), update the list of the bene15 ficial owners of the corporation or limited 

16 liability company within the time period 

17 prescribed by such rule. 

18 ‘‘(C) RULEMAKING ON UPDATING INFOR19 MATION.—Not later than 9 months after the 

20 completion of the study required under section 

21 4(a)(1) of the Corporate Transparency Act of 

22 2019, the Secretary of the Treasury shall con23 sider the findings of such study and, if the Sec24 retary determines it to be necessary or appro25 priate, issue a rule requiring corporations and 
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1 limited liability companies to update the list of 

2 the beneficial owners of the corporation or lim3 ited liability company within a specified amount 

4 of time after the date of any change in the list 

5 of beneficial owners or the information required 

6 to be provided relating to each beneficial owner. 

7 ‘‘(D) STATE NOTIFICATION.—Each State 

8 in which a corporation or limited liability com9 pany is being formed shall notify each applicant 

10 of the requirements listed in subparagraphs (A) 

11 and (B). 

12 ‘‘(2) CERTAIN BENEFICIAL OWNERS.—If an ap13 plicant to form a corporation or limited liability com14 pany or a beneficial owner, or similar agent of a cor15 poration or limited liability company who is required 

16 to provide identification information under this sub17 section, does not have a nonexpired passport issued 

18 by the United States, a nonexpired personal identi19 fication card, or a non-expired driver’s license issued 

20 by a State, each such person shall provide to 

21 FinCEN the full legal name, current residential or 

22 business street address, a unique identifying number 

23 from a non-expired passport issued by a foreign gov24 ernment, and a legible and credible copy of the 

25 pages of a non-expired passport issued by the gov-
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1 ernment of a foreign country bearing a photograph, 

2 date of birth, and unique identifying information for 

3 each beneficial owner, and each application described 

4 in paragraph (1)(A) and each update described in 

5 paragraph (1)(B) shall include a written certification 

6 by a person residing in the State or Indian country 

7 under the jurisdiction of the Indian Tribe forming 

8 the entity that the applicant, corporation, or limited 

9 liability company— 

10 ‘‘(A) has obtained for each such beneficial 

11 owner, a current residential or business street 

12 address and a legible and credible copy of the 

13 pages of a non-expired passport issued by the 

14 government of a foreign country bearing a pho15 tograph, date of birth, and unique identifying 

16 information for the person; 

17 ‘‘(B) has verified the full legal name, ad18 dress, and identity of each such person; 

19 ‘‘(C) will provide the information described 

20 in subparagraph (A) and the proof of 

21 verification described in subparagraph (B) upon 

22 request of FinCEN; and 

23 ‘‘(D) will retain the information and proof 

24 of verification under this paragraph until the 

25 end of the 5-year period beginning on the date 
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1 that the corporation or limited liability company 

2 terminates under the laws of the State or In3 dian Tribe. 

4 ‘‘(3) EXEMPT ENTITIES.— 

5 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—With respect to an ap6 plicant to form a corporation or limited liability 

7 company under the laws of a State or Indian 

8 Tribe, if such entity is described in subpara9 graph (C) or (D) of subsection (d)(4) and will 

10 be exempt from the beneficial ownership disclo11 sure requirements under this subsection, such 

12 applicant, or a prospective officer, director, or 

13 similar agent of the applicant, shall file a writ14 ten certification with FinCEN— 

15 ‘‘(i) identifying the specific provision 

16 of subsection (d)(4) under which the entity 

17 proposed to be formed would be exempt 

18 from the beneficial ownership disclosure re19 quirements under paragraphs (1) and (2); 

20 ‘‘(ii) stating that the entity proposed 

21 to be formed meets the requirements for 

22 an entity described under such provision of 

23 subsection (d)(4); and 

24 ‘‘(iii) providing identification informa25 tion for the applicant or prospective offi-
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1 cer, director, or similar agent making the 

2 certification in the same manner as pro3 vided under paragraph (1) or (2). 

4 ‘‘(B) EXISTING CORPORATIONS OR LIM5 ITED LIABILITY COMPANIES.—On and after the 

6 date that is 2 years after the final regulations 

7 are issued to carry out this section, a corpora8 tion or limited liability company formed under 

9 the laws of the State or Indian Tribe before 

10 such date shall be subject to the requirements 

11 of this subsection unless an officer, director, or 

12 similar agent of the entity submits to FinCEN 

13 a written certification— 

14 ‘‘(i) identifying the specific provision 

15 of subsection (d)(4) under which the entity 

16 is exempt from the requirements under 

17 paragraphs (1) and (2); 

18 ‘‘(ii) stating that the entity meets the 

19 requirements for an entity described under 

20 such provision of subsection (d)(4); and 

21 ‘‘(iii) providing identification informa22 tion for the officer, director, or similar 

23 agent making the certification in the same 

24 manner as provided under paragraph (1) 

25 or (2). 
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1 ‘‘(C) EXEMPT ENTITIES HAVING OWNER2 SHIP INTEREST.—If an entity described in sub3 paragraph (C) or (D) of subsection (d)(4) has 

4 or will have an ownership interest in a corpora5 tion or limited liability company formed or to be 

6 formed under the laws of a State or Indian 

7 Tribe, the applicant, corporation, or limited li8 ability company in which the entity has or will 

9 have the ownership interest shall provide the in10 formation required under this subsection relat11 ing to the entity, except that the entity shall 

12 not be required to provide information regard13 ing any natural person who has an ownership 

14 interest in, exercises substantial control over, or 

15 receives substantial economic benefits from the 

16 entity. 

17 ‘‘(4) FINCEN ID NUMBERS.— 

18 ‘‘(A) ISSUANCE OF FINCEN ID NUMBER.— 

19 ‘‘(i) IN GENERAL.—FinCEN shall 

20 issue a FinCEN ID number to any indi21 vidual who requests such a number and 

22 provides FinCEN with the information de23 scribed under subclauses (I) through (IV) 

24 of paragraph (1)(A)(i). 
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1 ‘‘(ii) UPDATING OF INFORMATION.— 

2 An individual with a FinCEN ID number 

3 shall submit an annual filing with FinCEN 

4 updating any information described under 

5 subclauses (I) through (IV) of paragraph 

6 (1)(A)(i). 

7 ‘‘(B) USE OF FINCEN ID NUMBER IN RE8 PORTING REQUIREMENTS.—Any person re9 quired to report the information described 

10 under paragraph (1)(A)(i) with respect to an 

11 individual may instead report the FinCEN ID 

12 number of the individual. 

13 ‘‘(C) TREATMENT OF INFORMATION SUB14 MITTED FOR FINCEN ID NUMBER.—For pur15 poses of this section, any information submitted 

16 under subparagraph (A) shall be deemed to be 

17 beneficial ownership information. 

18 ‘‘(5) RETENTION AND DISCLOSURE OF BENE19 FICIAL OWNERSHIP INFORMATION BY FINCEN.— 

20 ‘‘(A) RETENTION OF INFORMATION.—Ben21 eficial ownership information relating to each 

22 corporation or limited liability company formed 

23 under the laws of the State or Indian Tribe 

24 shall be maintained by FinCEN until the end of 

25 the 5-year period (or such other period of time 
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1 as the Secretary of the Treasury may, by rule, 

2 determine) beginning on the date that the cor3 poration or limited liability company termi4 nates. 

5 ‘‘(B) DISCLOSURE OF INFORMATION.— 

6 Beneficial ownership information reported to 

7 FinCEN pursuant to this section shall be pro8 vided by FinCEN only upon receipt of— 

9 ‘‘(i) subject to subparagraph (C), a 

10 request, through appropriate protocols, by 

11 a local, Tribal, State, or Federal law en12 forcement agency; 

13 ‘‘(ii) a request made by a Federal 

14 agency on behalf of a law enforcement 

15 agency of another country under an inter16 national treaty, agreement, or convention, 

17 or an order under section 3512 of title 18 

18 or section 1782 of title 28; or 

19 ‘‘(iii) a request made by a financial 

20 institution, with customer consent, as part 

21 of the institution’s compliance with due 

22 diligence requirements imposed under the 

23 Bank Secrecy Act, the USA PATRIOT 

24 Act, or other applicable Federal, State, or 

25 Tribal law. 
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1 ‘‘(C) APPROPRIATE PROTOCOLS.— 

2 ‘‘(i) PRIVACY.—The protocols de3 scribed in subparagraph (B)(i) shall— 

4 ‘‘(I) protect the privacy of any 

5 beneficial ownership information pro6 vided by FinCEN to a local, Tribal, 

7 State, or Federal law enforcement 

8 agency; 

9 ‘‘(II) ensure that a local, Tribal, 

10 State, or Federal law enforcement 

11 agency requesting beneficial ownership 

12 information has an existing investiga13 tory basis for requesting such infor14 mation; 

15 ‘‘(III) ensure that access to bene16 ficial ownership information is limited 

17 to authorized users at a local, Tribal, 

18 State, or Federal law enforcement 

19 agency who have undergone appro20 priate training, and refresher training 

21 no less than every two years, and that 

22 the identity of such authorized users 

23 is verified through appropriate mecha24 nisms, such as two-factor authentica25 tion; 
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1 ‘‘(IV) include an audit trail of re2 quests for beneficial ownership infor3 mation by a local, Tribal, State, or 

4 Federal law enforcement agency, in5 cluding, as necessary, information 

6 concerning queries made by author7 ized users at a local, Tribal, State, or 

8 Federal law enforcement agency; 

9 ‘‘(V) require that every local, 

10 Tribal, State, or Federal law enforce11 ment agency that receives beneficial 

12 ownership information from FinCEN 

13 conducts an annual audit to verify 

14 that the beneficial ownership informa15 tion received from FinCEN has been 

16 accessed and used appropriately, and 

17 consistent with this paragraph; and 

18 ‘‘(VI) require FinCEN to con19 duct an annual audit of every local, 

20 Tribal, State, or Federal law enforce21 ment agency that has received bene22 ficial ownership information to ensure 

23 that such agency has requested bene24 ficial ownership information, and has 

25 used any beneficial ownership infor-
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1 mation received from FinCEN, appro2 priately, and consistent with this 

3 paragraph. 

4 ‘‘(ii) LIMITATION ON USE.—Beneficial 

5 ownership information provided to a local, 

6 Tribal, State, or Federal law enforcement 

7 agency under this paragraph may only be 

8 used for law enforcement, national secu9 rity, or intelligence purposes. 

10 ‘‘(D) ACCESS PROCEDURES.—FinCEN 

11 shall establish stringent procedures for the pro12 tection and proper use of beneficial ownership 

13 information disclosed pursuant to subparagraph 

14 (B), including procedures to ensure such infor15 mation is not being inappropriately accessed or 

16 misused by law enforcement agencies. 

17 ‘‘(E) REPORT TO CONGRESS.—FinCEN 

18 shall issue an annual report to Congress stat19 ing— 

20 ‘‘(i) the number of times law enforce21 ment agencies and financial institutions 

22 have accessed beneficial ownership infor23 mation pursuant to subparagraph (B); 

24 ‘‘(ii) the number of times beneficial 

25 ownership information reported to 
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1 FinCEN pursuant to this section was inap2 propriately accessed, and by whom; and 

3 ‘‘(iii) the number of times beneficial 

4 ownership information was disclosed under 

5 subparagraph (B) pursuant to a subpoena. 

6 ‘‘(F) DISCLOSURE OF NON-PII DATA.— 

7 Notwithstanding subparagraph (B), FinCEN 

8 may issue guidance and otherwise make mate9 rials available to financial institutions and the 

10 public using beneficial ownership information 

11 reported pursuant to this section if such infor12 mation is aggregated in a manner that removes 

13 all personally identifiable information. For pur14 poses of this subparagraph, ‘personally identifi15 able information’ includes information that 

16 would allow for the identification of a particular 

17 corporation or limited liability company. 

18 ‘‘(b) NO BEARER SHARE CORPORATIONS OR LIM19 ITED LIABILITY COMPANIES.—A corporation or limited li20 ability company formed under the laws of a State or In21 dian Tribe may not issue a certificate in bearer form evi22 dencing either a whole or fractional interest in the cor23 poration or limited liability company. 

24 ‘‘(c) PENALTIES.— 
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1 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—It shall be unlawful for any 

2 person to affect interstate or foreign commerce by— 

3 ‘‘(A) knowingly providing, or attempting to 

4 provide, false or fraudulent beneficial ownership 

5 information, including a false or fraudulent 

6 identifying photograph, to FinCEN in accord7 ance with this section; 

8 ‘‘(B) willfully failing to provide complete or 

9 updated beneficial ownership information to 

10 FinCEN in accordance with this section; or 

11 ‘‘(C) knowingly disclosing the existence of 

12 a subpoena or other request for beneficial own13 ership information reported pursuant to this 

14 section, except— 

15 ‘‘(i) to the extent necessary to fulfill 

16 the authorized request; or 

17 ‘‘(ii) as authorized by the entity that 

18 issued the subpoena, or other request. 

19 ‘‘(2) CIVIL AND CRIMINAL PENALTIES.—Any 

20 person who violates paragraph (1)— 

21 ‘‘(A) shall be liable to the United States 

22 for a civil penalty of not more than $10,000; 

23 and 
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1 ‘‘(B) may be fined under title 18, United 

2 States Code, imprisoned for not more than 3 

3 years, or both. 

4 ‘‘(3) LIMITATION.—Any person who negligently 

5 violates paragraph (1) shall not be subject to civil or 

6 criminal penalties under paragraph (2). 

7 ‘‘(4) WAIVER.—The Secretary of the Treasury 

8 may waive the penalty for violating paragraph (1) if 

9 the Secretary determines that the violation was due 

10 to reasonable cause and was not due to willful ne11 glect. 

12 ‘‘(5) CRIMINAL PENALTY FOR THE MISUSE OR

13 UNAUTHORIZED DISCLOSURE OF BENEFICIAL OWN14 ERSHIP INFORMATION.—The criminal penalties pro15 vided for under section 5322 shall apply to a viola16 tion of this section to the same extent as such crimi17 nal penalties apply to a violation described in section 

18 5322, if the violation of this section consists of the 

19 misuse or unauthorized disclosure of beneficial own20 ership information. 

21 ‘‘(d) DEFINITIONS.—For the purposes of this section: 

22 ‘‘(1) APPLICANT.—The term ‘applicant’ means 

23 any natural person who files an application to form 

24 a corporation or limited liability company under the 

25 laws of a State or Indian Tribe. 
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1 ‘‘(2) BANK SECRECY ACT.—The term ‘Bank Se2 crecy Act’ means— 

3 ‘‘(A) section 21 of the Federal Deposit In4 surance Act; 

5 ‘‘(B) chapter 2 of title I of Public Law 91– 

6 508; and 

7 ‘‘(C) this subchapter. 

8 ‘‘(3) BENEFICIAL OWNER.— 

9 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—Except as provided in 

10 subparagraph (B), the term ‘beneficial owner’ 

11 means a natural person who, directly or indi12 rectly, through any contract, arrangement, un13 derstanding, relationship, or otherwise— 

14 ‘‘(i) exercises substantial control over 

15 a corporation or limited liability company; 

16 ‘‘(ii) owns 25 percent or more of the 

17 equity interests of a corporation or limited 

18 liability company; or 

19 ‘‘(iii) receives substantial economic 

20 benefits from the assets of a corporation or 

21 limited liability company. 

22 ‘‘(B) EXCEPTIONS.—The term ‘beneficial 

23 owner’ shall not include— 
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1 ‘‘(i) a minor child, as defined in the 

2 State or Indian Tribe in which the entity 

3 is formed; 

4 ‘‘(ii) a person acting as a nominee, 

5 intermediary, custodian, or agent on behalf 

6 of another person; 

7 ‘‘(iii) a person acting solely as an em8 ployee of a corporation or limited liability 

9 company and whose control over or eco10 nomic benefits from the corporation or lim11 ited liability company derives solely from 

12 the employment status of the person; 

13 ‘‘(iv) a person whose only interest in 

14 a corporation or limited liability company 

15 is through a right of inheritance; or 

16 ‘‘(v) a creditor of a corporation or 

17 limited liability company, unless the cred18 itor also meets the requirements of sub19 paragraph (A). 

20 ‘‘(C) SUBSTANTIAL ECONOMIC BENEFITS

21 DEFINED.— 

22 ‘‘(i) IN GENERAL.—For purposes of 

23 subparagraph (A)(ii), a natural person re24 ceives substantial economic benefits from 

25 the assets of a corporation or limited liabil-
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1 ity company if the person has an entitle2 ment to more than a specified percentage 

3 of the funds or assets of the corporation or 

4 limited liability company, which the Sec5 retary of the Treasury shall, by rule, estab6 lish. 

7 ‘‘(ii) RULEMAKING CRITERIA.—In es8 tablishing the percentage under clause (i), 

9 the Secretary of the Treasury shall seek 

10 to— 

11 ‘‘(I) provide clarity to corpora12 tions and limited liability companies 

13 with respect to the identification and 

14 disclosure of a natural person who re15 ceives substantial economic benefits 

16 from the assets of a corporation or 

17 limited liability company; and 

18 ‘‘(II) identify those natural per19 sons who, as a result of the substan20 tial economic benefits they receive 

21 from the assets of a corporation or 

22 limited liability company, exercise a 

23 dominant influence over such corpora24 tion or limited liability company. 
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1 ‘‘(4) CORPORATION; LIMITED LIABILITY COM2 PANY.—The terms ‘corporation’ and ‘limited liability 

3 company’— 

4 ‘‘(A) have the meanings given such terms 

5 under the laws of the applicable State or Indian 

6 Tribe; 

7 ‘‘(B) include any non-United States entity 

8 eligible for registration or registered to do busi9 ness as a corporation or limited liability com10 pany under the laws of the applicable State or 

11 Indian Tribe; 

12 ‘‘(C) do not include any entity that is— 

13 ‘‘(i) a business concern that is an 

14 issuer of a class of securities registered 

15 under section 12 of the Securities Ex16 change Act of 1934 (15 U.S.C. 781) or 

17 that is required to file reports under sec18 tion 15(d) of that Act (15 U.S.C. 78o(d)); 

19 ‘‘(ii) a business concern constituted, 

20 sponsored, or chartered by a State or In21 dian Tribe, a political subdivision of a 

22 State or Indian Tribe, under an interstate 

23 compact between two or more States, by a 

24 department or agency of the United 
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1 States, or under the laws of the United 

2 States; 

3 ‘‘(iii) a depository institution (as de4 fined in section 3 of the Federal Deposit 

5 Insurance Act (12 U.S.C. 1813)); 

6 ‘‘(iv) a credit union (as defined in sec7 tion 101 of the Federal Credit Union Act 

8 (12 U.S.C. 1752)); 

9 ‘‘(v) a bank holding company (as de10 fined in section 2 of the Bank Holding 

11 Company Act of 1956 (12 U.S.C. 1841)) 

12 or a savings and loan holding company (as 

13 defined in section 10(a) of the Home Own14 ers’ Loan Act (12 U.S.C. 1467a(a)); 

15 ‘‘(vi) a broker or dealer (as defined in 

16 section 3 of the Securities Exchange Act of 

17 1934 (15 U.S.C. 78c)) that is registered 

18 under section 15 of the Securities Ex19 change Act of 1934 (15 U.S.C. 78o); 

20 ‘‘(vii) an exchange or clearing agency 

21 (as defined in section 3 of the Securities 

22 Exchange Act of 1934 (15 U.S.C. 78c)) 

23 that is registered under section 6 or 17A 

24 of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 

25 (15 U.S.C. 78f and 78q–1); 
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1 ‘‘(viii) an investment company (as de2 fined in section 3 of the Investment Com3 pany Act of 1940 (15 U.S.C. 80a–3)) or 

4 an investment adviser (as defined in sec5 tion 202(11) of the Investment Advisers 

6 Act of 1940 (15 U.S.C. 80b–2(11))), if the 

7 company or adviser is registered with the 

8 Securities and Exchange Commission, has 

9 filed an application for registration which 

10 has not been denied, under the Investment 

11 Company Act of 1940 (15 U.S.C. 80a–1 et 

12 seq.) or the Investment Adviser Act of 

13 1940 (15 U.S.C. 80b–1 et seq.), or is an 

14 investment adviser described under section 

15 203(l) of the Investment Advisers Act of 

16 1940 (15 U.S.C. 80b–3(l)); 

17 ‘‘(ix) an insurance company (as de18 fined in section 2 of the Investment Com19 pany Act of 1940 (15 U.S.C. 80a–2)); 

20 ‘‘(x) a registered entity (as defined in 

21 section 1a of the Commodity Exchange Act 

22 (7 U.S.C. 1a)), or a futures commission 

23 merchant, introducing broker, commodity 

24 pool operator, or commodity trading advi25 sor (as defined in section 1a of the Com-
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1 modity Exchange Act (7 U.S.C. 1a)) that 

2 is registered with the Commodity Futures 

3 Trading Commission; 

4 ‘‘(xi) a public accounting firm reg5 istered in accordance with section 102 of 

6 the Sarbanes-Oxley Act (15 U.S.C. 7212) 

7 or an entity controlling, controlled by, or 

8 under common control of such a firm; 

9 ‘‘(xii) a public utility that provides 

10 telecommunications service, electrical 

11 power, natural gas, or water and sewer 

12 services, within the United States; 

13 ‘‘(xiii) a church, charity, nonprofit en14 tity, or other organization that is described 

15 in section 501(c), 527, or 4947(a)(1) of 

16 the Internal Revenue Code of 1986, that 

17 has not been denied tax exempt status, and 

18 that has filed the most recently due annual 

19 information return with the Internal Rev20 enue Service, if required to file such a re21 turn; 

22 ‘‘(xiv) a financial market utility des23 ignated by the Financial Stability Over24 sight Council under section 804 of the 
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1 Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Con2 sumer Protection Act; 

3 ‘‘(xv) an insurance producer (as de4 fined in section 334 of the Gramm-Leach5 Bliley Act); 

6 ‘‘(xvi) any pooled investment vehicle 

7 that is operated or advised by a person de8 scribed in clause (iii), (iv), (v), (vi), (viii), 

9 (ix), or (xi); 

10 ‘‘(xvii) any business concern that— 

11 ‘‘(I) employs more than 20 em12 ployees on a full-time basis in the 

13 United States; 

14 ‘‘(II) files income tax returns in 

15 the United States demonstrating more 

16 than $5,000,000 in gross receipts or 

17 sales; and 

18 ‘‘(III) has an operating presence 

19 at a physical office within the United 

20 States; or 

21 ‘‘(xviii) any corporation or limited li22 ability company formed and owned by an 

23 entity described in this clause or in clause 

24 (i), (ii), (iii), (iv), (v), (vi), (vii), (viii), (ix), 
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1 (x), (xi), (xii), (xiii), (xiv), (xv), or (xvi); 

2 and 

3 ‘‘(D) do not include any individual busi4 ness concern or class of business concerns 

5 which the Secretary of the Treasury and the 

6 Attorney General of the United States have 

7 jointly determined, by rule of otherwise, to be 

8 exempt from the requirements of subsection (a), 

9 if the Secretary and the Attorney General joint10 ly determine that requiring beneficial ownership 

11 information from the business concern would 

12 not serve the public interest and would not as13 sist law enforcement efforts to detect, prevent, 

14 or prosecute terrorism, money laundering, tax 

15 evasion, or other misconduct. 

16 ‘‘(5) FINCEN.—The term ‘FinCEN’ means the 

17 Financial Crimes Enforcement Network of the De18 partment of the Treasury. 

19 ‘‘(6) INDIAN COUNTRY.—The term ‘Indian 

20 country’ has the meaning given that term in section 

21 1151 of title 18. 

22 ‘‘(7) INDIAN TRIBE.—The term ‘Indian Tribe’ 

23 has the meaning given that term under section 102 

24 of the Federally Recognized Indian Tribe List Act of 

25 1994. 
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1 ‘‘(8) PERSONAL IDENTIFICATION CARD.—The 

2 term ‘personal identification card’ means an identi3 fication document issued by a State, Indian Tribe, 

4 or local government to an individual solely for the 

5 purpose of identification of that individual. 

6 ‘‘(9) STATE.—The term ‘State’ means any 

7 State, commonwealth, territory, or possession of the 

8 United States, the District of Columbia, the Com9 monwealth of Puerto Rico, the Commonwealth of the 

10 Northern Mariana Islands, American Samoa, Guam, 

11 or the United States Virgin Islands.’’. 

12 (2) RULEMAKING.— 

13 (A) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 1 year 

14 after the date of enactment of this Act, the Sec15 retary of the Treasury shall issue regulations to 

16 carry out this Act and the amendments made 

17 by this Act, including, to the extent necessary, 

18 to clarify the definitions in section 5333(d) of 

19 title 31, United States Code. 

20 (B) REVISION OF FINAL RULE.—Not later 

21 than 1 year after the date of enactment of this 

22 Act, the Secretary of the Treasury shall revise 

23 the final rule titled ‘‘Customer Due Diligence 

24 Requirements for Financial Institutions’’ (May 

25 11, 2016; 81 Fed. Reg. 29397) to— 
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1 (i) bring the rule into conformance 

2 with this Act and the amendments made 

3 by this Act; 

4 (ii) account for financial institutions’ 

5 access to comprehensive beneficial owner6 ship information filed by corporations and 

7 limited liability companies, under threat of 

8 civil and criminal penalties, under this Act 

9 and the amendments made by this Act; 

10 and 

11 (iii) reduce any burdens on financial 

12 institutions that are, in light of the enact13 ment of this Act and the amendments 

14 made by this Act, unnecessary or duplica15 tive. 

16 (3) CONFORMING AMENDMENTS.—Title 31, 

17 United States Code, is amended— 

18 (A) in section 5321(a)— 

19 (i) in paragraph (1), by striking ‘‘sec20 tions 5314 and 5315’’ each place it ap21 pears and inserting ‘‘sections 5314, 5315, 

22 and 5333’’; and 

23 (ii) in paragraph (6), by inserting 

24 ‘‘(except section 5333)’’ after ‘‘sub25 chapter’’ each place it appears; and 
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1 (B) in section 5322, by striking ‘‘section 

2 5315 or 5324’’ each place it appears and insert3 ing ‘‘section 5315, 5324, or 5333’’. 

4 (4) TABLE OF CONTENTS.—The table of con5 tents of chapter 53 of title 31, United States Code, 

6 is amended by inserting after the item relating to 

7 section 5332 the following: 

‘‘5333. Transparent incorporation practices.’’. 

8 (b) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—There is 

9 authorized to be appropriated $20,000,000 for each of fis10 cal years 2020 and 2021 to the Financial Crimes Enforce11 ment Network to carry out this Act and the amendments 

12 made by this Act. 

13 (c) FEDERAL CONTRACTORS.—Not later than the 

14 first day of the first full fiscal year beginning at least 1 

15 year after the date of the enactment of this Act, the Ad16 ministrator for Federal Procurement Policy shall revise 

17 the Federal Acquisition Regulation maintained under sec18 tion 1303(a)(1) of title 41, United States Code, to require 

19 any contractor or subcontractor who is subject to the re20 quirement to disclose beneficial ownership information 

21 under section 5333 of title 31, United States Code, to pro22 vide the information required to be disclosed under such 

23 section to the Federal Government as part of any bid or 

24 proposal for a contract with a value threshold in excess 
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1 of the simplified acquisition threshold under section 134 

2 of title 41, United States Code. 

3 SEC. 4. STUDIES AND REPORTS. 

4 (a) UPDATING OF BENEFICIAL OWNERSHIP INFOR5 MATION.— 

6 (1) STUDY.—The Secretary of the Treasury, in 

7 consultation with the Attorney General of the United 

8 States, shall conduct a study to evaluate— 

9 (A) the necessity of a requirement for cor10 porations and limited liability companies to up11 date the list of their beneficial owners within a 

12 specified amount of time after the date of any 

13 change in the list of beneficial owners or the in14 formation required to be provided relating to 

15 each beneficial owner, taking into account the 

16 annual filings required under section 

17 5333(a)(1)(B)(i) of title 31, United States 

18 Code, and the information contained in such 

19 annual filings; and 

20 (B) the burden that a requirement to up21 date the list of beneficial owners within a speci22 fied period of time after a change in such list 

23 of beneficial owners would impose on corpora24 tions and limited liability companies. 
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1 (2) REPORT.—Not later than 1 year after the 

2 date of enactment of this Act, the Secretary of the 

3 Treasury shall submit a report on the study required 

4 under paragraph (1) to the Committee on Financial 

5 Services of the House of Representatives and the 

6 Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs 

7 of the Senate. 

8 (3) PUBLIC COMMENT.—The Secretary of the 

9 Treasury shall seek and consider public input, com10 ments, and data in order to conduct the study re11 quired under subparagraph paragraph (1). 

12 (b) OTHER LEGAL ENTITIES.—Not later than 2 

13 years after the date of enactment of this Act, the Comp14 troller General of the United States shall conduct a study 

15 and submit to the Congress a report— 

16 (1) identifying each State or Indian Tribe that 

17 has procedures that enable persons to form or reg18 ister under the laws of the State or Indian Tribe 

19 partnerships, trusts, or other legal entities, and the 

20 nature of those procedures; 

21 (2) identifying each State or Indian Tribe that 

22 requires persons seeking to form or register partner23 ships, trusts, or other legal entities under the laws 

24 of the State or Indian Tribe to provide information 

25 about the beneficial owners (as that term is defined 
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1 in section 5333(d)(1) of title 31, United States 

2 Code, as added by this Act) or beneficiaries of such 

3 entities, and the nature of the required information; 

4 (3) evaluating whether the lack of available 

5 beneficial ownership information for partnerships, 

6 trusts, or other legal entities— 

7 (A) raises concerns about the involvement 

8 of such entities in terrorism, money laundering, 

9 tax evasion, securities fraud, or other mis10 conduct; 

11 (B) has impeded investigations into enti12 ties suspected of such misconduct; and 

13 (C) increases the costs to financial institu14 tions of complying with due diligence require15 ments imposed under the Bank Secrecy Act, the 

16 USA PATRIOT Act, or other applicable Fed17 eral, State, or Tribal law; and 

18 (4) evaluating whether the failure of the United 

19 States to require beneficial ownership information 

20 for partnerships and trusts formed or registered in 

21 the United States has elicited international criticism 

22 and what steps, if any, the United States has taken 

23 or is planning to take in response. 

24 (c) EFFECTIVENESS OF INCORPORATION PRAC25 TICES.—Not later than 5 years after the date of enact-
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1 ment of this Act, the Comptroller General of the United 

2 States shall conduct a study and submit to the Congress 

3 a report assessing the effectiveness of incorporation prac4 tices implemented under this Act and the amendments 

5 made by this Act in— 

6 (1) providing law enforcement agencies with 

7 prompt access to reliable, useful, and complete bene8 ficial ownership information; and 

9 (2) strengthening the capability of law enforce10 ment agencies to combat incorporation abuses, civil 

11 and criminal misconduct, and detect, prevent, or 

12 punish terrorism, money laundering, tax evasion, or 

13 other misconduct. 

14 (d) ANNUAL REPORT ON BENEFICIAL OWNERSHIP

15 INFORMATION.— 

16 (1) REPORT.—The Secretary of the Treasury 

17 shall issue an annual report to the Committee on Fi18 nancial Services of the House of Representatives and 

19 the Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Af20 fairs of the Senate with respect to the beneficial 

21 ownership information collected pursuant to section 

22 5333 of title 31, United States Code, that con23 tains— 
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1 (A) aggregate data on the number of bene2 ficial owners per reporting corporation or lim3 ited liability company; 

4 (B) the industries or type of business of 

5 each reporting corporation or limited liability 

6 company; and 

7 (C) the locations of the beneficial owners. 

8 (2) PRIVACY.—In issuing reports under para9 graph (1), the Secretary shall not reveal the identi10 ties of beneficial owners or names of the reporting 

11 corporations or limited liability companies. 

12 SEC. 5. DEFINITIONS. 

13 In this Act, the terms ‘‘Bank Secrecy Act’’, ‘‘bene14 ficial owner’’, ‘‘corporation’’, and ‘‘limited liability com15 pany’’ have the meaning given those terms, respectively, 

16 under section 5333(d) of title 31, United States Code. 

17 DIVISION B—COUNTER ACT OF 

18 2019 

19 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE; TABLE OF CONTENTS. 

20 (a) SHORT TITLE.—This Act may be cited as the 

21 ‘‘Coordinating Oversight, Upgrading and Innovating 

22 Technology, and Examiner Reform Act of 2019’’ or the 

23 ‘‘COUNTER Act of 2019’’. 

24 (b) TABLE OF CONTENTS.—The table of contents for 

25 this Act is as follows: 

DIVISION B—COUNTER ACT OF 2019 
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Sec. 1. Short title; table of contents. 

Sec. 2. Bank Secrecy Act definition. 

TITLE I—STRENGTHENING TREASURY 

Sec. 101. Improving the definition and purpose of the Bank Secrecy Act. 

Sec. 102. Special hiring authority. 

Sec. 103. Civil Liberties and Privacy Officer. 

Sec. 104. Civil Liberties and Privacy Council. 

Sec. 105. International coordination. 

Sec. 106. Treasury Attache ́s Program. 

Sec. 107. Increasing technical assistance for international cooperation. 

Sec. 108. FinCEN Domestic Liaisons. 

Sec. 109. FinCEN Exchange. 

Sec. 110. Study and strategy on trade-based money laundering. 

Sec. 111. Study and strategy on de-risking. 

Sec. 112. AML examination authority delegation study. 

Sec. 113. Study and strategy on Chinese money laundering. 

TITLE II—IMPROVING AML/CFT OVERSIGHT 

Sec. 201. Pilot program on sharing of suspicious activity reports within a financial group. 

Sec. 202. Sharing of compliance resources. 

Sec. 203. GAO Study on feedback loops. 

Sec. 204. FinCEN study on BSA value. 

Sec. 205. Sharing of threat pattern and trend information. 

Sec. 206. Modernization and upgrading whistleblower protections. 

Sec. 207. Certain violators barred from serving on boards of United States financial institutions. 

Sec. 208. Additional damages for repeat Bank Secrecy Act violators. 

Sec. 209. Justice annual report on deferred and non-prosecution agreements. 

Sec. 210. Return of profits and bonuses. 

Sec. 211. Application of Bank Secrecy Act to dealers in antiquities. 

Sec. 212. Geographic targeting order. 

Sec. 213. Study and revisions to currency transaction reports and suspicious 

activity reports. 

Sec. 214. Streamlining requirements for currency transaction reports and suspicious activity reports. 

TITLE III—MODERNIZING THE AML SYSTEM 

Sec. 301. Encouraging innovation in BSA compliance. 

Sec. 302. Innovation Labs. 

Sec. 303. Innovation Council. 

Sec. 304. Testing methods rulemaking. 

Sec. 305. FinCEN study on use of emerging technologies. 

Sec. 306. Discretionary surplus funds. 

1 (c) REFERENCES TO THIS ACT.—In this division— 

2 (1) any reference to ‘‘this Act’’ shall be deemed 

3 a reference to ‘‘this division’’; and 
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1 (2) except as otherwise expressly provided, any 

2 reference to a section or other provision shall be 

3 deemed a reference to that section or other provision 

4 of this division. 

5 SEC. 2. BANK SECRECY ACT DEFINITION. 

6 Section 5312(a) of title 31, United States Code, is 

7 amended by adding at the end the following: 

8 ‘‘(7) BANK SECRECY ACT.—The term ‘Bank Se9 crecy act’ means— 

10 ‘‘(A) section 21 of the Federal Deposit In11 surance Act; 

12 ‘‘(B) chapter 2 of title I of Public Law 91– 

13 508; and 

14 ‘‘(C) this subchapter.’’. 

15 TITLE I—STRENGTHENING 

16 TREASURY 

17 SEC. 101. IMPROVING THE DEFINITION AND PURPOSE OF 

18 THE BANK SECRECY ACT. 

19 Section 5311 of title 31, United States Code, is 

20 amended— 

21 (1) by inserting ‘‘to protect our national secu22 rity, to safeguard the integrity of the international 

23 financial system, and’’ before ‘‘to require’’; and 

24 (2) by inserting ‘‘to law enforcement and’’ be25 fore ‘‘in criminal’’. 
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1 SEC. 102. SPECIAL HIRING AUTHORITY. 

2 (a) IN GENERAL.—Section 310 of title 31, United 

3 States Code, is amended— 

4 (1) by redesignating subsection (d) as sub5 section (g); and 

6 (2) by inserting after subsection (c) the fol7 lowing: 

8 ‘‘(d) SPECIAL HIRING AUTHORITY.— 

9 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary of the 

10 Treasury may appoint, without regard to the provi11 sions of sections 3309 through 3318 of title 5, can12 didates directly to positions in the competitive serv13 ice (as defined in section 2102 of that title) in 

14 FinCEN. 

15 ‘‘(2) PRIMARY RESPONSIBILITIES.—The pri16 mary responsibility of candidates appointed pursuant 

17 to paragraph (1) shall be to provide substantive sup18 port in support of the duties described in subpara19 graphs (A), (B), (E), and (F) of subsection (b)(2).’’. 

20 (b) REPORT.—Not later than 360 days after the date 

21 of enactment of this Act, and every year thereafter for 

22 7 years, the Director of the Financial Crimes Enforcement 

23 Network shall submit a report to the Committee on Finan24 cial Services of the House of Representatives and the 

25 Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs of 

26 the Senate that includes— 
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1 (1) the number of new employees hired since 

2 the preceding report through the authorities de3 scribed under section 310(d) of title 31, United 

4 States Code, along with position titles and associ5 ated pay grades for such hires; and 

6 (2) a copy of any Federal Government survey of 

7 staff perspectives at the Office of Terrorism and Fi8 nancial Intelligence, including findings regarding the 

9 Office and the Financial Crimes Enforcement Net10 work from the most recently administered Federal 

11 Employee Viewpoint Survey. 

12 SEC. 103. CIVIL LIBERTIES AND PRIVACY OFFICER. 

13 (a) APPOINTMENT OF OFFICERS.—Not later than the 

14 end of the 3-month period beginning on the date of enact15 ment of this Act, a Civil Liberties and Privacy Officer 

16 shall be appointed, from among individuals who are attor17 neys with expertise in data privacy laws— 

18 (1) within each Federal functional regulator, by 

19 the head of the Federal functional regulator; 

20 (2) within the Financial Crimes Enforcement 

21 Network, by the Secretary of the Treasury; and 

22 (3) within the Internal Revenue Service Small 

23 Business and Self-Employed Tax Center, by the Sec24 retary of the Treasury. 
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1 (b) DUTIES.—Each Civil Liberties and Privacy Offi2 cer shall, with respect to the applicable regulator, Net3 work, or Center within which the Officer is located— 

4 (1) be consulted each time Bank Secrecy Act or 

5 anti-money laundering regulations affecting civil lib6 erties or privacy are developed or reviewed; 

7 (2) be consulted on information-sharing pro8 grams, including those that provide access to person9 ally identifiable information; 

10 (3) ensure coordination and clarity between 

11 anti-money laundering, civil liberties, and privacy 

12 regulations; 

13 (4) contribute to the evaluation and regulation 

14 of new technologies that may strengthen data pri15 vacy and the protection of personally identifiable in16 formation collected by each Federal functional regu17 lator; and 

18 (5) develop metrics of program success. 

19 (c) DEFINITIONS.—For purposes of this section: 

20 (1) BANK SECRECY ACT.—The term ‘‘Bank Se21 crecy Act’’ has the meaning given that term under 

22 section 5312 of title 31, United States Code. 

23 (2) FEDERAL FUNCTIONAL REGULATOR.—The 

24 term ‘‘Federal functional regulator’’ means the 

25 Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System, 
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1 the Comptroller of the Currency, the Federal De2 posit Insurance Corporation, the National Credit 

3 Union Administration, the Securities and Exchange 

4 Commission, and the Commodity Futures Trading 

5 Commission. 

6 SEC. 104. CIVIL LIBERTIES AND PRIVACY COUNCIL. 

7 (a) ESTABLISHMENT.—There is established the Civil 

8 Liberties and Privacy Council (hereinafter in this section 

9 referred to as the ‘‘Council’’), which shall consist of the 

10 Civil Liberties and Privacy Officers appointed pursuant to 

11 section 103. 

12 (b) CHAIR.—The Director of the Financial Crimes 

13 Enforcement Network shall serve as the Chair of the 

14 Council. 

15 (c) DUTY.—The members of the Council shall coordi16 nate on activities related to their duties as Civil Liberties 

17 Privacy Officers, but may not supplant the individual 

18 agency determinations on civil liberties and privacy. 

19 (d) MEETINGS.—The meetings of the Council— 

20 (1) shall be at the call of the Chair, but in no 

21 case may the Council meet less than quarterly; 

22 (2) may include open and partially closed ses23 sions, as determined necessary by the Council; and 

24 (3) shall include participation by public and pri25 vate entities and law enforcement agencies. 
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1 (e) REPORT.—The Chair of the Council shall issue 

2 an annual report to the Congress on the program and pol3 icy activities, including the success of programs as meas4 ured by metrics of program success developed pursuant 

5 to section 103(b)(5), of the Council during the previous 

6 year and any legislative recommendations that the Council 

7 may have. 

8 (f) NONAPPLICABILITY OF FACA.—The Federal Ad9 visory Committee Act (5 U.S.C. App.) shall not apply to 

10 the Council. 

11 SEC. 105. INTERNATIONAL COORDINATION. 

12 (a) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary of the Treasury 

13 shall work with the Secretary’s foreign counterparts, in14 cluding through the Financial Action Task Force, the 

15 International Monetary Fund, the World Bank, the 

16 Egmont Group of Financial Intelligence Units, the 

17 Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Develop18 ment, and the United Nations, to promote stronger anti19 money laundering frameworks and enforcement of anti20 money laundering laws. 

21 (b) COOPERATION GOAL.—In carrying out subsection 

22 (a), the Secretary of the Treasury may work directly with 

23 foreign counterparts and other organizations where the 

24 goal of cooperation can best be met. 

25 (c) INTERNATIONAL MONETARY FUND.— 
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1 (1) SUPPORT FOR CAPACITY OF THE INTER2 NATIONAL MONETARY FUND TO PREVENT MONEY

3 LAUNDERING AND FINANCING OF TERRORISM.— 

4 Title XVI of the International Financial Institutions 

5 Act (22 U.S.C. 262p et seq.) is amended by adding 

6 at the end the following: 

7 ‘‘SEC. 1629. SUPPORT FOR CAPACITY OF THE INTER8 NATIONAL MONETARY FUND TO PREVENT 

9 MONEY LAUNDERING AND FINANCING OF 

10 TERRORISM. 

11 ‘‘The Secretary of the Treasury shall instruct the 

12 United States Executive Director at the International 

13 Monetary Fund to support the increased use of the admin14 istrative budget of the Fund for technical assistance that 

15 strengthens the capacity of Fund members to prevent 

16 money laundering and the financing of terrorism.’’. 

17 (2) NATIONAL ADVISORY COUNCIL REPORT TO

18 CONGRESS.—The Chairman of the National Advisory 

19 Council on International Monetary and Financial 

20 Policies shall include in the report required by sec21 tion 1701 of the International Financial Institutions 

22 Act (22 U.S.C. 262r) a description of— 

23 (A) the activities of the International Mon24 etary Fund in the most recently completed fis25 cal year to provide technical assistance that 
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1 strengthens the capacity of Fund members to 

2 prevent money laundering and the financing of 

3 terrorism, and the effectiveness of the assist4 ance; and 

5 (B) the efficacy of efforts by the United 

6 States to support such technical assistance 

7 through the use of the Fund’s administrative 

8 budget, and the level of such support. 

9 (3) SUNSET.—Effective on the date that is the 

10 end of the 4-year period beginning on the date of en11 actment of this Act, section 1629 of the Inter12 national Financial Institutions Act, as added by 

13 paragraph (1), is repealed. 

14 SEC. 106. TREASURY ATTACHE ́ S PROGRAM. 

15 (a) IN GENERAL.—Title 31, United States Code, is 

16 amended by inserting after section 315 the following: 

17 ‘‘§ 316. Treasury Attache ́s Program 

18 ‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—There is established the Treas19 ury Attache ́s Program, under which the Secretary of the 

20 Treasury shall appoint employees of the Department of 

21 the Treasury, after nomination by the Director of the Fi22 nancial Crimes Enforcement Network (‘FinCEN’), as a 

23 Treasury attache ́, who shall— 

24 ‘‘(1) be knowledgeable about the Bank Secrecy 

25 Act and anti-money laundering issues; 
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1 ‘‘(2) be co-located in a United States embassy; 

2 ‘‘(3) perform outreach with respect to Bank Se3 crecy Act and anti-money laundering issues; 

4 ‘‘(4) establish and maintain relationships with 

5 foreign counterparts, including employees of min6 istries of finance, central banks, and other relevant 

7 official entities; 

8 ‘‘(5) conduct outreach to local and foreign fi9 nancial institutions and other commercial actors, in10 cluding— 

11 ‘‘(A) information exchanges through 

12 FinCEN and FinCEN programs; and 

13 ‘‘(B) soliciting buy-in and cooperation for 

14 the implementation of— 

15 ‘‘(i) United States and multilateral 

16 sanctions; and 

17 ‘‘(ii) international standards on anti18 money laundering and the countering of 

19 the financing of terrorism; and 

20 ‘‘(6) perform such other actions as the Sec21 retary determines appropriate. 

22 ‘‘(b) NUMBER OF ATTACHE ́S.—The number of Treas23 ury attache ́s appointed under this section at any one time 

24 shall be not fewer than 6 more employees than the number 
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1 of employees of the Department of the Treasury serving 

2 as Treasury attache ́s on March 1, 2019. 

3 ‘‘(c) COMPENSATION.—Each Treasury attache ́ ap4 pointed under this section and located at a United States 

5 embassy shall receive compensation at the higher of— 

6 ‘‘(1) the rate of compensation provided to a 

7 Foreign Service officer at a comparable career level 

8 serving at the same embassy; or 

9 ‘‘(2) the rate of compensation the Treasury 

10 attache ́ would otherwise have received, absent the 

11 application of this subsection. 

12 ‘‘(d) BANK SECRECY ACT DEFINED.—In this section, 

13 the term ‘Bank Secrecy Act’ has the meaning given that 

14 term under section 5312.’’. 

15 (b) CLERICAL AMENDMENT.—The table of contents 

16 for chapter 3 of title 31, United States Code, is amended 

17 by inserting after the item relating to section 315 the fol18 lowing: 

‘‘316. Treasury Attache ́s Program.’’. 

19 SEC. 107. INCREASING TECHNICAL ASSISTANCE FOR 

20 INTERNATIONAL COOPERATION. 

21 (a) IN GENERAL.—There is authorized to be appro22 priated for each of fiscal years 2020 through 2024 to the 

23 Secretary of the Treasury for purposes of providing tech24 nical assistance that promotes compliance with inter25 national standards and best practices, including in par-
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1 ticular those aimed at the establishment of effective anti2 money laundering and countering the financing of ter3 rorism regimes, in an amount equal to twice the amount 

4 authorized for such purpose for fiscal year 2019. 

5 (b) ACTIVITY AND EVALUATION REPORT.—Not later 

6 than 360 days after enactment of this Act, and every year 

7 thereafter for five years, the Secretary of the Treasury 

8 shall issue a report to the Congress on the assistance (as 

9 described under subsection (a)) of the Office of Technical 

10 Assistance of the Department of the Treasury con11 taining— 

12 (1) a narrative detailing the strategic goals of 

13 the Office in the previous year, with an explanation 

14 of how technical assistance provided in the previous 

15 year advances the goals; 

16 (2) a description of technical assistance pro17 vided by the Office in the previous year, including 

18 the objectives and delivery methods of the assist19 ance; 

20 (3) a list of beneficiaries and providers (other 

21 than Office staff) of the technical assistance; 

22 (4) a description of how technical assistance 

23 provided by the Office complements, duplicates, or 

24 otherwise affects or is affected by technical assist25 ance provided by the international financial institu-
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1 tions (as defined under section 1701(c) of the Inter2 national Financial Institutions Act); and 

3 (5) a copy of any Federal Government survey of 

4 staff perspectives at the Office of Technical Assist5 ance, including any findings regarding the Office 

6 from the most recently administered Federal Em7 ployee Viewpoint Survey. 

8 SEC. 108. FINCEN DOMESTIC LIAISONS. 

9 Section 310 of title 31, United States Code, as 

10 amended by section 102, is further amended by inserting 

11 after subsection (d) the following: 

12 ‘‘(e) FINCEN DOMESTIC LIAISONS.— 

13 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—The Director of FinCEN 

14 shall appoint at least 6 senior FinCEN employees as 

15 FinCEN Domestic Liaisons, who shall— 

16 ‘‘(A) each be assigned to focus on a spe17 cific region of the United States; 

18 ‘‘(B) be located at an office in such region 

19 (or co-located at an office of the Board of Gov20 ernors of the Federal Reserve System in such 

21 region); and 

22 ‘‘(C) perform outreach to BSA officers at 

23 financial institutions (including non-bank finan24 cial institutions) and persons who are not finan25 cial institutions, especially with respect to ac-
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1 tions taken by FinCEN that require specific ac2 tions by, or have specific effects on, such insti3 tutions or persons, as determined by the Direc4 tor. 

5 ‘‘(2) DEFINITIONS.—In this subsection: 

6 ‘‘(A) BSA OFFICER.—The term ‘BSA offi7 cer’ means an employee of a financial institu8 tion whose primary job responsibility involves 

9 compliance with the Bank Secrecy Act, as such 

10 term is defined under section 5312. 

11 ‘‘(B) FINANCIAL INSTITUTION.—The term 

12 ‘financial institution’ has the meaning given 

13 that term under section 5312.’’. 

14 SEC. 109. FINCEN EXCHANGE. 

15 Section 310 of title 31, United States Code, as 

16 amended by section 108, is further amended by inserting 

17 after subsection (e) the following: 

18 ‘‘(f) FINCEN EXCHANGE.— 

19 ‘‘(1) ESTABLISHMENT.—The FinCEN Ex20 change is hereby established within FinCEN, which 

21 shall consist of the FinCEN Exchange program of 

22 FinCEN in existence on the day before the date of 

23 enactment of this paragraph. 

24 ‘‘(2) PURPOSE.—The FinCEN Exchange shall 

25 facilitate a voluntary public-private information 
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1 sharing partnership among law enforcement, finan2 cial institutions, and FinCEN to— 

3 ‘‘(A) effectively and efficiently combat 

4 money laundering, terrorism financing, orga5 nized crime, and other financial crimes; 

6 ‘‘(B) protect the financial system from il7 licit use; and 

8 ‘‘(C) promote national security. 

9 ‘‘(3) REPORT.— 

10 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—Not later than one 

11 year after the date of enactment of this sub12 section, and annually thereafter for the next 

13 five years, the Secretary of the Treasury shall 

14 submit to the Committee on Financial Services 

15 of the House of Representatives and the Com16 mittee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs 

17 of the Senate a report containing— 

18 ‘‘(i) an analysis of the efforts under19 taken by the FinCEN Exchange and the 

20 results of such efforts; 

21 ‘‘(ii) an analysis of the extent and ef22 fectiveness of the FinCEN Exchange, in23 cluding any benefits realized by law en24 forcement from partnership with financial 

25 institutions; and 
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1 ‘‘(iii) any legislative, administrative, 

2 or other recommendations the Secretary 

3 may have to strengthen FinCEN Exchange 

4 efforts. 

5 ‘‘(B) CLASSIFIED ANNEX.—Each report 

6 under subparagraph (A) may include a classi7 fied annex. 

8 ‘‘(4) INFORMATION SHARING REQUIREMENT.— 

9 Information shared pursuant to this subsection shall 

10 be shared in compliance with all other applicable 

11 Federal laws and regulations. 

12 ‘‘(5) RULE OF CONSTRUCTION.—Nothing under 

13 this subsection may be construed to create new in14 formation sharing authorities related to the Bank 

15 Secrecy Act (as such term is defined under section 

16 5312 of title 31, United States Code). 

17 ‘‘(6) FINANCIAL INSTITUTION DEFINED.—In 

18 this subsection, the term ‘financial institution’ has 

19 the meaning given that term under section 5312.’’. 

20 SEC. 110. STUDY AND STRATEGY ON TRADE-BASED MONEY 

21 LAUNDERING. 

22 (a) STUDY.—The Secretary of the Treasury shall 

23 carry out a study, in consultation with appropriate private 

24 sector stakeholders and Federal departments and agen25 cies, on trade-based money laundering. 
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1 (b) REPORT.—Not later than the end of the 1-year 

2 period beginning on the date of the enactment of this Act, 

3 the Secretary shall issue a report to the Congress con4 taining— 

5 (1) all findings and determinations made in car6 rying out the study required under subsection (a); 

7 and 

8 (2) proposed strategies to combat trade-based 

9 money laundering. 

10 (c) CLASSIFIED ANNEX.—The report required under 

11 this section may include a classified annex. 

12 (d) CONTRACTING AUTHORITY.—The Secretary may 

13 contract with a private third-party to carry out the study 

14 required under this section. The authority of the Secretary 

15 to enter into contracts under this subsection shall be in 

16 effect for each fiscal year only to the extent and in the 

17 amounts as are provided in advance in appropriations 

18 Acts. 

19 SEC. 111. STUDY AND STRATEGY ON DE-RISKING. 

20 (a) REVIEW.—The Secretary of the Treasury, in con21 sultation with appropriate private sector stakeholders, ex22 aminers, and the Federal functional regulators (as defined 

23 under section 103) and other relevant stakeholders, shall 

24 undertake a formal review of— 
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1 (1) any adverse consequences of financial insti2 tutions de-risking entire categories of relationships, 

3 including charities, embassy accounts, money serv4 ices businesses (as defined under section 

5 1010.100(ff) of title 31, Code of Federal Regula6 tions) and their agents, countries, international and 

7 domestic regions, and respondent banks; 

8 (2) the reasons why financial institutions are 

9 engaging in de-risking; 

10 (3) the association with and effects of de-risk11 ing on money laundering and financial crime actors 

12 and activities; 

13 (4) the most appropriate ways to promote fi14 nancial inclusion, particularly with respect to devel15 oping countries, while maintaining compliance with 

16 the Bank Secrecy Act, including an assessment of 

17 policy options to— 

18 (A) more effectively tailor Federal actions 

19 and penalties to the size of foreign financial in20 stitutions and any capacity limitations of for21 eign governments; and 

22 (B) reduce compliance costs that may lead 

23 to the adverse consequences described in para24 graph (1); 
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1 (5) formal and informal feedback provided by 

2 examiners that may have led to de-risking; 

3 (6) the relationship between resources dedicated 

4 to compliance and overall sophistication of compli5 ance efforts at entities that may be experiencing de6 risking versus those that have not experienced de7 risking; and 

8 (7) any best practices from the private sector 

9 that facilitate correspondent bank relationships. 

10 (b) DE-RISKING STRATEGY.—The Secretary shall de11 velop a strategy to reduce de-risking and adverse con12 sequences related to de-risking. 

13 (c) REPORT.—Not later than the end of the 1-year 

14 period beginning on the date of the enactment of this Act, 

15 the Secretary, in consultation with the Federal functional 

16 regulators and other relevant stakeholders, shall issue a 

17 report to the Congress containing— 

18 (1) all findings and determinations made in car19 rying out the study required under subsection (a); 

20 and 

21 (2) the strategy developed pursuant to sub22 section (b). 

23 (d) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 

24 (1) DE-RISKING.—The term ‘‘de-risking’’ 

25 means the wholesale closing of accounts or limiting 
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1 of financial services for a category of customer due 

2 to unsubstantiated risk as it relates to compliance 

3 with the Bank Secrecy Act. 

4 (2) BSA TERMS.—The terms ‘‘Bank Secrecy 

5 Act’’ and ‘‘financial institution’’ have the meaning 

6 given those terms, respectively, under section 5312 

7 off title 31, United States Code. 

8 SEC. 112. AML EXAMINATION AUTHORITY DELEGATION 

9 STUDY. 

10 (a) STUDY.—The Secretary of the Treasury shall 

11 carry out a study on the Secretary’s delegation of exam12 ination authority under the Bank Secrecy Act, including— 

13 (1) an evaluation of the efficacy of the delega14 tion, especially with respect to the mission of the 

15 Bank Secrecy Act; 

16 (2) whether the delegated agencies have appro17 priate resources to perform their delegated respon18 sibilities; and 

19 (3) whether the examiners in delegated agencies 

20 have sufficient training and support to perform their 

21 responsibilities. 

22 (b) REPORT.—Not later than one year after the date 

23 of enactment of this Act, the Secretary of the Treasury 

24 shall submit to the Committee on Financial Services of 

25 the House of Representatives and the Committee on 
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1 Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs of the Senate a re2 port containing— 

3 (1) all findings and determinations made in car4 rying out the study required under subsection (a); 

5 and 

6 (2) recommendations to improve the efficacy of 

7 delegation authority, including the potential for de8 delegation of any or all such authority where it may 

9 be appropriate. 

10 (c) BANK SECRECY ACT DEFINED.—The term 

11 ‘‘Bank Secrecy Act’’ has the meaning given that term 

12 under section 5312 off title 31, United States Code. 

13 SEC. 113. STUDY AND STRATEGY ON CHINESE MONEY 

14 LAUNDERING. 

15 (a) STUDY.—The Secretary of the Treasury shall 

16 carry out a study on the extent and effect of Chinese 

17 money laundering activities in the United States, including 

18 territories and possessions of the United States, and 

19 worldwide. 

20 (b) STRATEGY TO COMBAT CHINESE MONEY LAUN21 DERING.—Upon the completion of the study required 

22 under subsection (a), the Secretary shall, in consultation 

23 with such other Federal departments and agencies as the 

24 Secretary determines appropriate, develop a strategy to 

25 combat Chinese money laundering activities. 
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1 (c) REPORT.—Not later than the end of the 1-year 

2 period beginning on the date of enactment of this Act, the 

3 Secretary of the Treasury shall issue a report to Congress 

4 containing— 

5 (1) all findings and determinations made in car6 rying out the study required under subsection (a); 

7 and 

8 (2) the strategy developed under subsection (b). 

9 TITLE II—IMPROVING AML/CFT 

10 OVERSIGHT 

11 SEC. 201. PILOT PROGRAM ON SHARING OF SUSPICIOUS 

12 ACTIVITY REPORTS WITHIN A FINANCIAL 

13 GROUP. 

14 (a) IN GENERAL.— 

15 (1) SHARING WITH FOREIGN BRANCHES AND

16 AFFILIATES.—Section 5318(g) of title 31, United 

17 States Code, is amended by adding at the end the 

18 following: 

19 ‘‘(5) PILOT PROGRAM ON SHARING WITH FOR20 EIGN BRANCHES, SUBSIDIARIES, AND AFFILIATES.— 

21 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary of the 

22 Treasury shall issue rules establishing the pilot 

23 program described under subparagraph (B), 

24 subject to such controls and restrictions as the 

25 Director of the Financial Crimes Enforcement 
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1 Network determines appropriate, including con2 trols and restrictions regarding participation by 

3 financial institutions and jurisdictions in the 

4 pilot program. In prescribing such rules, the 

5 Secretary shall ensure that the sharing of infor6 mation described under such subparagraph (B) 

7 is subject to appropriate standards and require8 ments regarding data security and the confiden9 tiality of personally identifiable information. 

10 ‘‘(B) PILOT PROGRAM DESCRIBED.—The 

11 pilot program required under this paragraph 

12 shall— 

13 ‘‘(i) permit a financial institution with 

14 a reporting obligation under this sub15 section to share reports (and information 

16 on such reports) under this subsection with 

17 the institution’s foreign branches, subsidi18 aries, and affiliates for the purpose of com19 bating illicit finance risks, notwithstanding 

20 any other provision of law except subpara21 graphs (A) and (C); 

22 ‘‘(ii) terminate on the date that is five 

23 years after the date of enactment of this 

24 paragraph, except that the Secretary may 

25 extend the pilot program for up to two 
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1 years upon submitting a report to the 

2 Committee on Financial Services of the 

3 House of Representatives and the Com4 mittee on Banking, Housing, and Urban 

5 Affairs of the Senate that includes— 

6 ‘‘(I) a certification that the ex7 tension is in the national interest of 

8 the United States, with a detailed ex9 planation of the reasons therefor; 

10 ‘‘(II) an evaluation of the useful11 ness of the pilot program, including a 

12 detailed analysis of any illicit activity 

13 identified or prevented as a result of 

14 the program; and 

15 ‘‘(III) a detailed legislative pro16 posal providing for a long-term exten17 sion of the pilot program activities, in18 cluding expected budgetary resources 

19 for the activities, if the Secretary de20 termines that a long-term extension is 

21 appropriate. 

22 ‘‘(C) PROHIBITION INVOLVING CERTAIN

23 JURISDICTIONS.—In issuing the regulations re24 quired under subparagraph (A), the Secretary 

25 may not permit a financial institution to share 
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1 information on reports under this subsection 

2 with a foreign branch, subsidiary, or affiliate lo3 cated in— 

4 ‘‘(i) the People’s Republic of China; 

5 ‘‘(ii) the Russian Federation; or 

6 ‘‘(iii) a jurisdiction that— 

7 ‘‘(I) is subject to counter8 measures imposed by the Federal 

9 Government; 

10 ‘‘(II) is a state sponsor of ter11 rorism; or 

12 ‘‘(III) the Secretary has deter13 mined cannot reasonably protect the 

14 privacy and confidentiality of such in15 formation or would otherwise use such 

16 information in a manner that is not 

17 consistent with the national interest of 

18 the United States. 

19 ‘‘(D) IMPLEMENTATION UPDATES.—Not 

20 later than 360 days after the date rules are 

21 issued under subparagraph (A), and annually 

22 thereafter for three years, the Secretary, or the 

23 Secretary’s designee, shall brief the Committee 

24 on Financial Services of the House of Rep-
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1 resentatives and the Committee on Banking, 

2 Housing, and Urban Affairs of the Senate on— 

3 ‘‘(i) the degree of any information 

4 sharing permitted under the pilot program, 

5 and a description of criteria used by the 

6 Secretary to evaluate the appropriateness 

7 of the information sharing; 

8 ‘‘(ii) the effectiveness of the pilot pro9 gram in identifying or preventing the viola10 tion of a United States law or regulation, 

11 and mechanisms that may improve such ef12 fectiveness; and 

13 ‘‘(iii) any recommendations to amend 

14 the design of the pilot program. 

15 ‘‘(E) RULE OF CONSTRUCTION.—Nothing 

16 in this paragraph shall be construed as limiting 

17 the Secretary’s authority under provisions of 

18 law other than this paragraph to establish other 

19 permissible purposes or methods for a financial 

20 institution sharing reports (and information on 

21 such reports) under this subsection with the in22 stitution’s foreign headquarters or with other 

23 branches of the same institution. 

24 ‘‘(F) NOTICE OF USE OF OTHER AUTHOR25 ITY.—If the Secretary, pursuant to any author-
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1 ity other than that provided under this para2 graph, permits a financial institution to share 

3 information on reports under this subsection 

4 with a foreign branch, subsidiary, or affiliate lo5 cated in a foreign jurisdiction, the Secretary 

6 shall notify the Committee on Financial Serv7 ices of the House of Representatives and the 

8 Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban 

9 Affairs of such permission and the applicable 

10 foreign jurisdiction. 

11 ‘‘(6) TREATMENT OF FOREIGN JURISDICTION12 ORIGINATED REPORTS.—A report received by a fi13 nancial institution from a foreign affiliate with re14 spect to a suspicious transaction relevant to a pos15 sible violation of law or regulation shall be subject 

16 to the same confidentiality requirements provided 

17 under this subsection for a report of a suspicious 

18 transaction described under paragraph (1).’’. 

19 (2) NOTIFICATION PROHIBITIONS.—Section 

20 5318(g)(2)(A) of title 31, United States Code, is 

21 amended— 

22 (A) in clause (i), by inserting after ‘‘trans23 action has been reported’’ the following: ‘‘or 

24 otherwise reveal any information that would re-
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1 veal that the transaction has been reported’’; 

2 and 

3 (B) in clause (ii), by inserting after ‘‘trans4 action has been reported,’’ the following: ‘‘or 

5 otherwise reveal any information that would re6 veal that the transaction has been reported,’’. 

7 (b) RULEMAKING.—Not later than the end of the 

8 360-day period beginning on the date of enactment of this 

9 Act, the Secretary of the Treasury shall issue regulations 

10 to carry out the amendments made by this section. 

11 SEC. 202. SHARING OF COMPLIANCE RESOURCES. 

12 (a) IN GENERAL.—Section 5318 of title 31, United 

13 States Code, is amended by adding at the end the fol14 lowing: 

15 ‘‘(o) SHARING OF COMPLIANCE RESOURCES.— 

16 ‘‘(1) SHARING PERMITTED.—Two or more fi17 nancial institutions may enter into collaborative ar18 rangements in order to more efficiently comply with 

19 the requirements of this subchapter. 

20 ‘‘(2) OUTREACH.—The Secretary of the Treas21 ury and the appropriate supervising agencies shall 

22 carry out an outreach program to provide financial 

23 institutions with information, including best prac24 tices, with respect to the sharing of resources de25 scribed under paragraph (1).’’. 
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1 (b) RULE OF CONSTRUCTION.—The amendment 

2 made by subsection (a) may not be construed to require 

3 financial institutions to share resources. 

4 SEC. 203. GAO STUDY ON FEEDBACK LOOPS. 

5 (a) STUDY.—The Comptroller General of the United 

6 States shall carry out a study on— 

7 (1) best practices within the United States Gov8 ernment for providing feedback (‘‘feedback loop’’) to 

9 relevant parties (including regulated private entities) 

10 on the usage and usefulness of personally identifi11 able information (‘‘PII’’), sensitive-but-unclassified 

12 (‘‘SBU’’) data, or similar information provided by 

13 such parties to Government users of such informa14 tion and data (including law enforcement or regu15 lators); and 

16 (2) any practices or standards inside or outside 

17 the United States for providing feedback through 

18 sensitive information and public-private partnership 

19 information sharing efforts, specifically related to ef20 forts to combat money laundering and other forms 

21 of illicit finance. 

22 (b) REPORT.—Not later than the end of the 18- 

23 month period beginning on the date of the enactment of 

24 this Act, the Comptroller General shall issue a report to 

25 the Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs 
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1 of the Senate and the Committee on Financial Services 

2 of the House of Representatives containing— 

3 (1) all findings and determinations made in car4 rying out the study required under subsection (a); 

5 (2) with respect to each of paragraphs (1) and 

6 (2) of subsection (a), any best practices or signifi7 cant concerns identified by the Comptroller General, 

8 and their applicability to public-private partnerships 

9 and feedback loops with respect to U.S. efforts to 

10 combat money laundering and other forms of illicit 

11 finance; and 

12 (3) recommendations to reduce or eliminate any 

13 unnecessary Government collection of the informa14 tion described under subsection (a)(1). 

15 SEC. 204. FINCEN STUDY ON BSA VALUE. 

16 (a) STUDY.—The Director of the Financial Crimes 

17 Enforcement Network shall carry out a study on Bank Se18 crecy Act value. 

19 (b) REPORT.—Not later than the end of the 30-day 

20 period beginning on the date the study under subsection 

21 (a) is completed, the Director shall issue a report to the 

22 Committee on Financial Services of the House of Rep23 resentatives and the Committee on Banking, Housing, and 

24 Urban Affairs of the Senate containing all findings and 
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1 determinations made in carrying out the study required 

2 under this section. 

3 (c) CLASSIFIED ANNEX.—The report required under 

4 this section may include a classified annex, if the Director 

5 determines it appropriate. 

6 (d) BANK SECRECY ACT DEFINED.—For purposes of 

7 this section, the term ‘‘Bank Secrecy Act’’ has the mean8 ing given that term under section 5312 of title 31, United 

9 States Code. 

10 SEC. 205. SHARING OF THREAT PATTERN AND TREND IN11 FORMATION. 

12 Section 5318(g) of title 31, United States Code, as 

13 amended by section 201(a)(1), is further amended by add14 ing at the end the following: 

15 ‘‘(7) SHARING OF THREAT PATTERN AND

16 TREND INFORMATION.— 

17 ‘‘(A) SAR ACTIVITY REVIEW.—The Direc18 tor of the Financial Crimes Enforcement Net19 work shall restart publication of the ‘SAR Ac20 tivity Review – Trends, Tips & Issues’, on not 

21 less than a semi-annual basis, to provide mean22 ingful information about the preparation, use, 

23 and value of reports filed under this subsection 

24 by financial institutions, as well as other re-
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1 ports filed by financial institutions under the 

2 Bank Secrecy Act. 

3 ‘‘(B) INCLUSION OF TYPOLOGIES.—In each 

4 publication described under subparagraph (A), 

5 the Director shall provide financial institutions 

6 with typologies, including data that can be 

7 adapted in algorithms (including for artificial 

8 intelligence and machine learning programs) 

9 where appropriate, on emerging money laun10 dering and counter terror financing threat pat11 terns and trends. 

12 ‘‘(C) TYPOLOGY DEFINED.—For purposes 

13 of this paragraph, the term ‘typology’ means 

14 the various techniques used to launder money 

15 or finance terrorism.’’. 

16 SEC. 206. MODERNIZATION AND UPGRADING WHISTLE17 BLOWER PROTECTIONS. 

18 (a) REWARDS.—Section 5323(d) of title 31, United 

19 States Code, is amended to read as follows: 

20 ‘‘(d) SOURCE OF REWARDS.—For the purposes of 

21 paying a reward under this section, the Secretary may, 

22 subject to amounts made available in advance by appro23 priation Acts, use criminal fine, civil penalty, or forfeiture 

24 amounts recovered based on the original information with 

25 respect to which the reward is being paid.’’. 
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1 (b) WHISTLEBLOWER INCENTIVES.—Chapter 53 of 

2 title 31, United States Code, is amended— 

3 (1) by inserting after section 5323 the fol4 lowing: 

5 ‘‘§ 5323A. Whistleblower incentives 

6 ‘‘(a) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 

7 ‘‘(1) COVERED JUDICIAL OR ADMINISTRATIVE

8 ACTION.—The term ‘covered judicial or administra9 tive action’ means any judicial or administrative ac10 tion brought by FinCEN under the Bank Secrecy 

11 Act that results in monetary sanctions exceeding 

12 $1,000,000. 

13 ‘‘(2) FINCEN.—The term ‘FinCEN’ means the 

14 Financial Crimes Enforcement Network. 

15 ‘‘(3) MONETARY SANCTIONS.—The term ‘mone16 tary sanctions’, when used with respect to any judi17 cial or administrative action, means— 

18 ‘‘(A) any monies, including penalties, 

19 disgorgement, and interest, ordered to be paid; 

20 and 

21 ‘‘(B) any monies deposited into a 

22 disgorgement fund as a result of such action or 

23 any settlement of such action. 

24 ‘‘(4) ORIGINAL INFORMATION.—The term 

25 ‘original information’ means information that— 
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1 ‘‘(A) is derived from the independent 

2 knowledge or analysis of a whistleblower; 

3 ‘‘(B) is not known to FinCEN from any 

4 other source, unless the whistleblower is the 

5 original source of the information; and 

6 ‘‘(C) is not exclusively derived from an al7 legation made in a judicial or administrative 

8 hearing, in a governmental report, hearing, 

9 audit, or investigation, or from the news media, 

10 unless the whistleblower is a source of the infor11 mation. 

12 ‘‘(5) RELATED ACTION.—The term ‘related ac13 tion’, when used with respect to any judicial or ad14 ministrative action brought by FinCEN, means any 

15 judicial or administrative action that is based upon 

16 original information provided by a whistleblower that 

17 led to the successful enforcement of the action. 

18 ‘‘(6) SECRETARY.—The term ‘Secretary’ means 

19 the Secretary of the Treasury. 

20 ‘‘(7) WHISTLEBLOWER.—The term ‘whistle21 blower’ means any individual who provides, or 2 or 

22 more individuals acting jointly who provide, informa23 tion relating to a violation of laws enforced by 

24 FinCEN, in a manner established, by rule or regula25 tion, by FinCEN. 
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1 ‘‘(b) AWARDS.— 

2 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—In any covered judicial or 

3 administrative action, or related action, the Sec4 retary, under such rules as the Secretary may issue 

5 and subject to subsection (c), shall pay an award or 

6 awards to 1 or more whistleblowers who voluntarily 

7 provided original information to FinCEN that led to 

8 the successful enforcement of the covered judicial or 

9 administrative action, or related action, in an aggre10 gate amount equal to not more than 30 percent, in 

11 total, of what has been collected of the monetary 

12 sanctions imposed in the action. 

13 ‘‘(2) SOURCE OF AWARDS.—For the purposes of 

14 paying any award under paragraph (1), the Sec15 retary may, subject to amounts made available in 

16 advance by appropriation Acts, use monetary sanc17 tion amounts recovered based on the original infor18 mation with respect to which the award is being 

19 paid. 

20 ‘‘(c) DETERMINATION OF AMOUNT OF AWARD; DE21 NIAL OF AWARD.— 

22 ‘‘(1) DETERMINATION OF AMOUNT OF

23 AWARD.— 
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1 ‘‘(A) DISCRETION.—The determination of 

2 the amount of an award made under subsection 

3 (b) shall be in the discretion of the Secretary. 

4 ‘‘(B) CRITERIA.—In responding to a dis5 closure and determining the amount of an 

6 award made, FinCEN staff shall meet with the 

7 whistleblower to discuss evidence disclosed and 

8 rebuttals to the disclosure, and shall take into 

9 consideration— 

10 ‘‘(i) the significance of the informa11 tion provided by the whistleblower to the 

12 success of the covered judicial or adminis13 trative action; 

14 ‘‘(ii) the degree of assistance provided 

15 by the whistleblower and any legal rep16 resentative of the whistleblower in a cov17 ered judicial or administrative action; 

18 ‘‘(iii) the mission of FinCEN in deter19 ring violations of the law by making 

20 awards to whistleblowers who provide in21 formation that lead to the successful en22 forcement of such laws; and 

23 ‘‘(iv) such additional relevant factors 

24 as the Secretary may establish by rule. 
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1 ‘‘(2) DENIAL OF AWARD.—No award under 

2 subsection (b) shall be made— 

3 ‘‘(A) to any whistleblower who is, or was at 

4 the time the whistleblower acquired the original 

5 information submitted to FinCEN, a member, 

6 officer, or employee of— 

7 ‘‘(i) an appropriate regulatory agency; 

8 ‘‘(ii) the Department of Justice; 

9 ‘‘(iii) a self-regulatory organization; or 

10 ‘‘(iv) a law enforcement organization; 

11 ‘‘(B) to any whistleblower who is convicted 

12 of a criminal violation, or who the Secretary 

13 has a reasonable basis to believe committed a 

14 criminal violation, related to the judicial or ad15 ministrative action for which the whistleblower 

16 otherwise could receive an award under this sec17 tion; 

18 ‘‘(C) to any whistleblower who gains the 

19 information through the performance of an 

20 audit of financial statements required under the 

21 Bank Secrecy Act and for whom such submis22 sion would be contrary to its requirements; or 

23 ‘‘(D) to any whistleblower who fails to sub24 mit information to FinCEN in such form as the 

25 Secretary may, by rule, require. 
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1 ‘‘(3) STATEMENT OF REASONS.—For any deci2 sion granting or denying an award, the Secretary 

3 shall provide to the whistleblower a statement of rea4 sons that includes findings of fact and conclusions of 

5 law for all material issues. 

6 ‘‘(d) REPRESENTATION.— 

7 ‘‘(1) PERMITTED REPRESENTATION.—Any 

8 whistleblower who makes a claim for an award under 

9 subsection (b) may be represented by counsel. 

10 ‘‘(2) REQUIRED REPRESENTATION.— 

11 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—Any whistleblower 

12 who anonymously makes a claim for an award 

13 under subsection (b) shall be represented by 

14 counsel if the whistleblower anonymously sub15 mits the information upon which the claim is 

16 based. 

17 ‘‘(B) DISCLOSURE OF IDENTITY.—Prior to 

18 the payment of an award, a whistleblower shall 

19 disclose their identity and provide such other 

20 information as the Secretary may require, di21 rectly or through counsel for the whistleblower. 

22 ‘‘(e) APPEALS.—Any determination made under this 

23 section, including whether, to whom, or in what amount 

24 to make awards, shall be in the discretion of the Secretary. 

25 Any such determination, except the determination of the 
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1 amount of an award if the award was made in accordance 

2 with subsection (b), may be appealed to the appropriate 

3 court of appeals of the United States not more than 30 

4 days after the determination is issued by the Secretary. 

5 The court shall review the determination made by the Sec6 retary in accordance with section 706 of title 5. 

7 ‘‘(f) EMPLOYEE PROTECTIONS.—The Secretary of 

8 the Treasury shall issue regulations protecting a whistle9 blower from retaliation, which shall be as close as prac10 ticable to the employee protections provided for under sec11 tion 1057 of the Consumer Financial Protection Act of 

12 2010.’’; and 

13 (2) in the table of contents for such chapter, by 

14 inserting after the item relating to section 5323 the 

15 following new item: 

‘‘5323A. Whistleblower incentives.’’. 

16 SEC. 207. CERTAIN VIOLATORS BARRED FROM SERVING ON 

17 BOARDS OF UNITED STATES FINANCIAL IN18 STITUTIONS. 

19 Section 5321 of title 31, United States Code, is 

20 amended by adding at the end the following: 

21 ‘‘(f) CERTAIN VIOLATORS BARRED FROM SERVING

22 ON BOARDS OF UNITED STATES FINANCIAL INSTITU23 TIONS.— 

24 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—An individual found to 

25 have committed an egregious violation of a provision 
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1 of (or rule issued under) the Bank Secrecy Act shall 

2 be barred from serving on the board of directors of 

3 a United States financial institution for a 10-year 

4 period beginning on the date of such finding. 

5 ‘‘(2) EGREGIOUS VIOLATION DEFINED.—With 

6 respect to an individual, the term ‘egregious viola7 tion’ means— 

8 ‘‘(A) a felony criminal violation for which 

9 the individual was convicted; and 

10 ‘‘(B) a civil violation where the individual 

11 willfully committed such violation and the viola12 tion facilitated money laundering or the financ13 ing of terrorism.’’. 

14 SEC. 208. ADDITIONAL DAMAGES FOR REPEAT BANK SE15 CRECY ACT VIOLATORS. 

16 (a) IN GENERAL.—Section 5321 of title 31, United 

17 States Code, as amended by section 208, is further amend18 ed by adding at the end the following: 

19 ‘‘(g) ADDITIONAL DAMAGES FOR REPEAT VIOLA20 TORS.—In addition to any other fines permitted by this 

21 section and section 5322, with respect to a person who 

22 has previously been convicted of a criminal provision of 

23 (or rule issued under) the Bank Secrecy Act or who has 

24 admitted, as part of a deferred- or non-prosecution agree25 ment, to having previously committed a violation of a 
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1 criminal provision of (or rule issued under) the Bank Se2 crecy Act, the Secretary may impose an additional civil 

3 penalty against such person for each additional such viola4 tion in an amount equal to up three times the profit 

5 gained or loss avoided by such person as a result of the 

6 violation.’’. 

7 (b) PROSPECTIVE APPLICATION OF AMENDMENT.— 

8 For purposes of determining whether a person has com9 mitted a previous violation under section 5321(g) of title 

10 31, United States Code, such determination shall only in11 clude violations occurring after the date of enactment of 

12 this Act. 

13 SEC. 209. JUSTICE ANNUAL REPORT ON DEFERRED AND 

14 NON-PROSECUTION AGREEMENTS. 

15 (a) ANNUAL REPORT.—The Attorney General shall 

16 issue an annual report, every year for the five years begin17 ning on the date of enactment of this Act, to the Commit18 tees on Financial Services and the Judiciary of the House 

19 of Representatives and the Committees on Banking, Hous20 ing, and Urban Affairs and the Judiciary of the Senate 

21 containing— 

22 (1) a list of deferred prosecution agreements 

23 and non-prosecution agreements that the Attorney 

24 General has entered into during the previous year 
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1 with any person with respect to a violation or sus2 pected violation of the Bank Secrecy Act; 

3 (2) the justification for entering into each such 

4 agreement; 

5 (3) the list of factors that were taken into ac6 count in determining that the Attorney General 

7 should enter into each such agreement; and 

8 (4) the extent of coordination the Attorney 

9 General conducted with the Financial Crimes En10 forcement Network prior to entering into each such 

11 agreement. 

12 (b) CLASSIFIED ANNEX.—Each report under sub13 section (a) may include a classified annex. 

14 (c) BANK SECRECY ACT DEFINED.—For purposes of 

15 this section, the term ‘‘Bank Secrecy Act’’ has the mean16 ing given that term under section 5312 of title 31, United 

17 States Code. 

18 SEC. 210. RETURN OF PROFITS AND BONUSES. 

19 (a) IN GENERAL.—Section 5322 of title 31, United 

20 States Code, is amended by adding at the end the fol21 lowing: 

22 ‘‘(e) RETURN OF PROFITS AND BONUSES.—A person 

23 convicted of violating a provision of (or rule issued under) 

24 the Bank Secrecy Act shall— 
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1 ‘‘(1) in addition to any other fine under this 

2 section, be fined in an amount equal to the profit 

3 gained by such person by reason of such violation, 

4 as determined by the court; and 

5 ‘‘(2) if such person is an individual who was a 

6 partner, director, officer, or employee of a financial 

7 institution at the time the violation occurred, repay 

8 to such financial institution any bonus paid to such 

9 individual during the Federal fiscal year in which 

10 the violation occurred or the Federal fiscal year 

11 after which the violation occurred.’’. 

12 (b) RULE OF CONSTRUCTION.—The amendment 

13 made by subsection (a) may not be construed to prohibit 

14 a financial institution from requiring the repayment of a 

15 bonus paid to a partner, director, officer, or employee if 

16 the financial institution determines that the partner, di17 rector, officer, or employee engaged in unethical, but non18 criminal, activities. 

19 SEC. 211. APPLICATION OF BANK SECRECY ACT TO DEAL20 ERS IN ANTIQUITIES. 

21 (a) IN GENERAL.—Section 5312(a)(2) of title 31, 

22 United States Code, is amended— 

23 (1) in subparagraph (Y), by striking ‘‘or’’ at 

24 the end; 
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1 (2) by redesignating subparagraph (Z) as sub2 paragraph (AA); and 

3 (3) by inserting after subsection (Y) the fol4 lowing: 

5 ‘‘(Z) a person trading or acting as an 

6 intermediary in the trade of antiquities, includ7 ing an advisor, consultant or any other person 

8 who engages as a business in the solicitation of 

9 the sale of antiquities; or’’. 

10 (b) STUDY ON THE FACILITATION OF MONEY LAUN11 DERING AND TERROR FINANCE THROUGH THE TRADE OF

12 WORKS OF ART OR ANTIQUITIES.— 

13 (1) STUDY.—The Secretary of the Treasury, in 

14 coordination with Federal Bureau of Investigation, 

15 the Attorney General, and Homeland Security Inves16 tigations, shall perform a study on the facilitation of 

17 money laundering and terror finance through the 

18 trade of works of art or antiquities, including an 

19 analysis of— 

20 (A) the extent to which the facilitation of 

21 money laundering and terror finance through 

22 the trade of works of art or antiquities may 

23 enter or affect the financial system of the 

24 United States, including any qualitative data or 

25 statistics; 
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1 (B) whether thresholds and definitions 

2 should apply in determining which entities to 

3 regulate; 

4 (C) an evaluation of which markets, by 

5 size, entity type, domestic or international geo6 graphical locations, or otherwise, should be sub7 ject to regulations, but only to the extent such 

8 markets are not already required to report on 

9 the trade of works of art or antiquities to the 

10 Federal Government; 

11 (D) an evaluation of whether certain ex12 emptions should apply; and 

13 (E) any other points of study or analysis 

14 the Secretary determines necessary or appro15 priate. 

16 (2) REPORT.—Not later than the end of the 

17 180-day period beginning on the date of the enact18 ment of this Act, the Secretary of the Treasury shall 

19 issue a report to the Committee on Financial Serv20 ices of the House of Representatives and the Com21 mittee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs of 

22 the Senate containing all findings and determina23 tions made in carrying out the study required under 

24 paragraph (1). 
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1 (c) RULEMAKING.—Not later than the end of the 

2 180-day period beginning on the date the Secretary issues 

3 the report required under subsection (b)(2), the Secretary 

4 shall issue regulations to carry out the amendments made 

5 by subsection (a). 

6 SEC. 212. GEOGRAPHIC TARGETING ORDER. 

7 The Secretary of the Treasury shall issue a geo8 graphic targeting order, similar to the order issued by the 

9 Financial Crimes Enforcement Network on November 15, 

10 2018, that— 

11 (1) applies to commercial real estate to the 

12 same extent, with the exception of having the same 

13 thresholds, as the order issued by FinCEN on No14 vember 15, 2018, applies to residential real estate; 

15 and 

16 (2) establishes a specific threshold for commer17 cial real estate. 

18 SEC. 213. STUDY AND REVISIONS TO CURRENCY TRANS19 ACTION REPORTS AND SUSPICIOUS ACTIVITY 

20 REPORTS. 

21 (a) CURRENCY TRANSACTION REPORTS.— 

22 (1) CTR INDEXED FOR INFLATION.— 

23 (A) IN GENERAL.—Every 5 years after the 

24 date of enactment of this Act, the Secretary of 

25 the Treasury shall revise regulations issued 
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1 with respect to section 5313 of title 31, United 

2 States Code, to update each $10,000 threshold 

3 amount in such regulation to reflect the change 

4 in the Consumer Price Index for All Urban 

5 Consumers published by the Department of 

6 Labor, rounded to the nearest $100. For pur7 poses of calculating the change described in the 

8 previous sentence, the Secretary shall use 

9 $10,000 as the base amount and the date of en10 actment of this Act as the base date. 

11 (B) EXCEPTION.—Notwithstanding sub12 paragraph (A), the Secretary may make appro13 priate adjustments to the threshold amounts 

14 described under subparagraph (A) in high-risk 

15 areas (e.g., High Intensity Financial Crime 

16 Areas or HIFCAs), if the Secretary has demon17 strable evidence that shows a threshold raise 

18 would increase serious crimes, such as traf19 ficking, or endanger national security. 

20 (2) GAO CTR STUDY.— 

21 (A) STUDY.—The Comptroller General of 

22 the United States shall carry out a study of 

23 currency transaction reports. Such study shall 

24 include— 
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1 (i) a review (carried out in consulta2 tion with the Secretary of the Treasury, 

3 the Financial Crimes Enforcement Net4 work, the United States Attorney General, 

5 the State Attorneys General, and State, 

6 Tribal, and local law enforcement) of the 

7 effectiveness of the current currency trans8 action reporting regime; 

9 (ii) an analysis of the importance of 

10 currency transaction reports to law en11 forcement; and 

12 (iii) an analysis of the effects of rais13 ing the currency transaction report thresh14 old. 

15 (B) REPORT.—Not later than the end of 

16 the 1-year period beginning on the date of en17 actment of this Act, the Comptroller General 

18 shall issue a report to the Secretary of the 

19 Treasury and the Congress containing— 

20 (i) all findings and determinations 

21 made in carrying out the study required 

22 under subparagraph (A); and 

23 (ii) recommendations for improving 

24 the current currency transaction reporting 

25 regime. 
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1 (b) MODIFIED SARS STUDY AND DESIGN.— 

2 (1) STUDY.—The Director of the Financial 

3 Crimes Enforcement Network shall carry out a 

4 study, in consultation with industry stakeholders (in5 cluding money services businesses, community 

6 banks, and credit unions), regulators, and law en7 forcement, of the design of a modified suspicious ac8 tivity report form for certain customers and activi9 ties. Such study shall include— 

10 (A) an examination of appropriate optimal 

11 SARs thresholds to determine the level at which 

12 a modified SARs form could be employed; 

13 (B) an evaluation of which customers or 

14 transactions would be appropriate for a modi15 fied SAR, including— 

16 (i) seasoned business customers; 

17 (ii) financial technology (Fintech) 

18 firms; 

19 (iii) structuring transactions; and 

20 (iv) any other customer or transaction 

21 that may be appropriate for a modified 

22 SAR; and 

23 (C) an analysis of the most effective meth24 ods to reduce the regulatory burden imposed on 

25 financial institutions in complying with the 
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1 Bank Secrecy Act, including an analysis of the 

2 effect of— 

3 (i) modifying thresholds; 

4 (ii) shortening forms; 

5 (iii) combining Bank Secrecy Act 

6 forms; 

7 (iv) filing reports in periodic batches; 

8 and 

9 (v) any other method that may reduce 

10 the regulatory burden. 

11 (2) STUDY CONSIDERATIONS.—In carrying out 

12 the study required under paragraph (1), the Direc13 tor shall seek to balance law enforcement priorities, 

14 regulatory burdens experienced by financial institu15 tions, and the requirement for reports to have a 

16 ‘‘high degree of usefulness to law enforcement’’ 

17 under the Bank Secrecy Act. 

18 (3) REPORT.—Not later than the end of the 1- 

19 year period beginning on the date of enactment of 

20 this Act, the Director shall issue a report to Con21 gress containing— 

22 (A) all findings and determinations made 

23 in carrying out the study required under sub24 section (a); and 
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1 (B) sample designs of modified SARs 

2 forms based on the study results. 

3 (4) CONTRACTING AUTHORITY.—The Director 

4 may contract with a private third-party to carry out 

5 the study required under this subsection. The au6 thority of the Director to enter into contracts under 

7 this paragraph shall be in effect for each fiscal year 

8 only to the extent and in the amounts as are pro9 vided in advance in appropriations Acts. 

10 (c) DEFINITIONS.—For purposes of this section: 

11 (1) BANK SECRECY ACT.—The term ‘‘Bank Se12 crecy Act’’ has the meaning given that term under 

13 section 5312 of title 31, United States Code. 

14 (2) REGULATORY BURDEN.—The term ‘‘regu15 latory burden’’ means the man-hours to complete fil16 ings, cost of data collection and analysis, and other 

17 considerations of chapter 35 of title 44, United 

18 States Code (commonly referred to as the Paper19 work Reduction Act). 

20 (3) SAR; SUSPICIOUS ACTIVITY REPORT.—The 

21 term ‘‘SAR’’ and ‘‘suspicious activity report’’ mean 

22 a report of a suspicious transaction under section 

23 5318(g) of title 31, United States Code. 

24 (4) SEASONED BUSINESS CUSTOMER.—The 

25 term ‘‘seasoned business customer’’, shall have such 
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1 meaning as the Secretary of the Treasury shall pre2 scribe, which shall include any person that— 

3 (A) is incorporated or organized under the 

4 laws of the United States or any State, or is 

5 registered as, licensed by, or otherwise eligible 

6 to do business within the United States, a 

7 State, or political subdivision of a State; 

8 (B) has maintained an account with a fi9 nancial institution for a length of time as deter10 mined by the Secretary; and 

11 (C) meet such other requirements as the 

12 Secretary may determine necessary or appro13 priate. 

14 SEC. 214. STREAMLINING REQUIREMENTS FOR CURRENCY 

15 TRANSACTION REPORTS AND SUSPICIOUS 

16 ACTIVITY REPORTS. 

17 (a) REVIEW.—The Secretary of the Treasury (in con18 sultation with Federal law enforcement agencies, the Di19 rector of National Intelligence, and the Federal functional 

20 regulators and in consultation with other relevant stake21 holders) shall undertake a formal review of the current 

22 financial institution reporting requirements under the 

23 Bank Secrecy Act and its implementing regulations and 

24 propose changes to further reduce regulatory burdens, and 

25 ensure that the information provided is of a ‘‘high degree 
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1 of usefulness’’ to law enforcement, as set forth under sec2 tion 5311 of title 31, United States Code. 

3 (b) CONTENTS.—The review required under sub4 section (a) shall include a study of— 

5 (1) whether the timeframe for filing a sus6 picious activity report should be increased from 30 

7 days; 

8 (2) whether or not currency transaction report 

9 and suspicious activity report thresholds should be 

10 tied to inflation or otherwise periodically be ad11 justed; 

12 (3) whether the circumstances under which a fi13 nancial institution determines whether to file a ‘‘con14 tinuing suspicious activity report’’, or the processes 

15 followed by a financial institution in determining 

16 whether to file a ‘‘continuing suspicious activity re17 port’’ (or both) can be narrowed; 

18 (4) analyzing the fields designated as ‘‘critical’’ 

19 on the suspicious activity report form and whether 

20 the number of fields should be reduced; 

21 (5) the increased use of exemption provisions to 

22 reduce currency transaction reports that are of little 

23 or no value to law enforcement efforts; 
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1 (6) the current financial institution reporting 

2 requirements under the Bank Secrecy Act and its 

3 implementing regulations and guidance; and 

4 (7) such other items as the Secretary deter5 mines appropriate. 

6 (c) REPORT.—Not later than the end of the one year 

7 period beginning on the date of the enactment of this Act, 

8 the Secretary of the Treasury, in consultation with law 

9 enforcement and persons subject to Bank Secrecy Act re10 quirements, shall issue a report to the Congress containing 

11 all findings and determinations made in carrying out the 

12 review required under subsection (a). 

13 (d) DEFINITIONS.—For purposes of this section: 

14 (1) FEDERAL FUNCTIONAL REGULATOR.—The 

15 term ‘‘Federal functional regulator’’ has the mean16 ing given that term under section 103. 

17 (2) OTHER TERMS.—The terms ‘‘Bank Secrecy 

18 Act’’ and ‘‘financial institution’’ have the meaning 

19 given those terms, respectively, under section 5312 

20 of title 31, United States Code. 
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1 TITLE III—MODERNIZING THE 

2 AML SYSTEM 

3 SEC. 301. ENCOURAGING INNOVATION IN BSA COMPLI4 ANCE. 

5 Section 5318 of title 31, United States Code, as 

6 amended by section 202, is further amended by adding 

7 at the end the following: 

8 ‘‘(p) ENCOURAGING INNOVATION IN COMPLIANCE.— 

9 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—The Federal functional reg10 ulators shall encourage financial institutions to con11 sider, evaluate, and, where appropriate, responsibly 

12 implement innovative approaches to meet the re13 quirements of this subchapter, including through the 

14 use of innovation pilot programs. 

15 ‘‘(2) EXEMPTIVE RELIEF.—The Secretary, pur16 suant to subsection (a), may provide exemptions 

17 from the requirements of this subchapter if the Sec18 retary determines such exemptions are necessary to 

19 facilitate the testing and potential use of new tech20 nologies and other innovations. 

21 ‘‘(3) RULE OF CONSTRUCTION.—This sub22 section may not be construed to require financial in23 stitutions to consider, evaluate, or implement innova24 tive approaches to meet the requirements of the 

25 Bank Secrecy Act. 
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1 ‘‘(4) FEDERAL FUNCTIONAL REGULATOR DE2 FINED.—In this subsection, the term ‘Federal func3 tional regulator’ means the Board of Governors of 

4 the Federal Reserve System, the Comptroller of the 

5 Currency, the Federal Deposit Insurance Corpora6 tion, the National Credit Union Administration, the 

7 Securities and Exchange Commission, and the Com8 modity Futures Trading Commission.’’. 

9 SEC. 302. INNOVATION LABS. 

10 (a) IN GENERAL.—Subchapter II of chapter 53 of 

11 title 31, United States Code, is amended by adding at the 

12 end the following: 

13 ‘‘§ 5333. Innovation Labs 

14 ‘‘(a) ESTABLISHMENT.—There is established within 

15 the Department of the Treasury and each Federal func16 tional regulator an Innovation Lab. 

17 ‘‘(b) DIRECTOR.—The head of each Innovation Lab 

18 shall be a Director, to be appointed by the Secretary of 

19 the Treasury or the head of the Federal functional regu20 lator, as applicable. 

21 ‘‘(c) DUTIES.—The duties of the Innovation Lab 

22 shall be— 

23 ‘‘(1) to provide outreach to law enforcement 

24 agencies, financial institutions, and other persons 

25 (including vendors and technology companies) with 
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1 respect to innovation and new technologies that may 

2 be used to comply with the requirements of the 

3 Bank Secrecy Act; 

4 ‘‘(2) to support the implementation of respon5 sible innovation and new technology, in a manner 

6 that complies with the requirements of the Bank Se7 crecy Act; 

8 ‘‘(3) to explore opportunities for public-private 

9 partnerships; and 

10 ‘‘(4) to develop metrics of success. 

11 ‘‘(d) FINCEN LAB.—The Innovation Lab established 

12 under subsection (a) within the Department of the Treas13 ury shall be a lab within the Financial Crimes Enforce14 ment Network. 

15 ‘‘(e) FEDERAL FUNCTIONAL REGULATOR DE16 FINED.—In this subsection, the term ‘Federal functional 

17 regulator’ means the Board of Governors of the Federal 

18 Reserve System, the Comptroller of the Currency, the 

19 Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation, the National 

20 Credit Union Administration, the Securities and Exchange 

21 Commission, and the Commodity Futures Trading Com22 mission.’’. 

23 (b) CLERICAL AMENDMENT.—The table of contents 

24 for subchapter II of chapter 53 of title 31, United States 

25 Code, is amended by adding at the end the following: 

‘‘5333. Innovation Labs.’’. 
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1 SEC. 303. INNOVATION COUNCIL. 

2 (a) IN GENERAL.—Subchapter II of chapter 53 of 

3 Title 31, United States Code, as amended by section 302, 

4 is further amended by adding at the end the following: 

5 ‘‘§ 5334. Innovation Council 

6 ‘‘(a) ESTABLISHMENT.—There is established the In7 novation Council (hereinafter in this section referred to 

8 as the ‘Council’), which shall consist of each Director of 

9 an Innovation Lab established under section 5334 and the 

10 Director of the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network. 

11 ‘‘(b) CHAIR.—The Director of the Innovation Lab of 

12 the Department of the Treasury shall serve as the Chair 

13 of the Council. 

14 ‘‘(c) DUTY.—The members of the Council shall co15 ordinate on activities related to innovation under the Bank 

16 Secrecy Act, but may not supplant individual agency de17 terminations on innovation. 

18 ‘‘(d) MEETINGS.—The meetings of the Council— 

19 ‘‘(1) shall be at the call of the Chair, but in no 

20 case may the Council meet less than semi-annually; 

21 ‘‘(2) may include open and closed sessions, as 

22 determined necessary by the Council; and 

23 ‘‘(3) shall include participation by public and 

24 private entities and law enforcement agencies. 

25 ‘‘(e) REPORT.—The Council shall issue an annual re26 port, for each of the 7 years beginning on the date of en-
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1 actment of this section, to the Secretary of the Treasury 

2 on the activities of the Council during the previous year, 

3 including the success of programs as measured by metrics 

4 of success developed pursuant to section 5334(c)(4), and 

5 any regulatory or legislative recommendations that the 

6 Council may have.’’. 

7 (b) CLERICAL AMENDMENT.—The table of contents 

8 for subchapter II of chapter 53 of title 31, United States 

9 Code, is amended by adding the end the following: 

‘‘5334. Innovation Council.’’. 

10 SEC. 304. TESTING METHODS RULEMAKING. 

11 (a) IN GENERAL.—Section 5318 of title 31, United 

12 States Code, as amended by section 301, is further amend13 ed by adding at the end the following: 

14 ‘‘(q) TESTING.— 

15 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary of the 

16 Treasury, in consultation with the head of each 

17 agency to which the Secretary has delegated duties 

18 or powers under subsection (a), shall issue a rule to 

19 specify— 

20 ‘‘(A) with respect to technology and related 

21 technology-internal processes (‘new technology’) 

22 designed to facilitate compliance with the Bank 

23 Secrecy Act requirements, the standards by 

24 which financial institutions are to test new 

25 technology; and 
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1 ‘‘(B) in what instances or under what cir2 cumstance and criteria a financial institution 

3 may replace or terminate legacy technology and 

4 processes for any examinable technology or 

5 process without the replacement or termination 

6 being determined an examination deficiency. 

7 ‘‘(2) STANDARDS.—The standards described 

8 under paragraph (1) may include— 

9 ‘‘(A) an emphasis on using innovative ap10 proaches, such as machine learning, rather than 

11 rules-based systems; 

12 ‘‘(B) risk-based back-testing of the regime 

13 to facilitate calibration of relevant systems; 

14 ‘‘(C) requirements for appropriate data 

15 privacy and security; and 

16 ‘‘(D) a requirement that the algorithms 

17 used by the regime be disclosed to the Financial 

18 Crimes Enforcement Network, upon request. 

19 ‘‘(3) CONFIDENTIALITY OF ALGORITHMS.—If a 

20 financial institution or any director, officer, em21 ployee, or agent of any financial institution, volun22 tarily or pursuant to this subsection or any other au23 thority, discloses the institution’s algorithms to a 

24 Government agency, such algorithms and any mate25 rials associated with the creation of such algorithms 
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1 shall be considered confidential and not subject to 

2 public disclosure.’’. 

3 (b) UPDATE OF MANUAL.—The Financial Institu4 tions Examination Council shall ensure— 

5 (1) that any manual prepared by the Council is 

6 updated to reflect the rulemaking required by the 

7 amendment made by subsection (a); and 

8 (2) that financial institutions are not penalized 

9 for the decisions based on such rulemaking to re10 place or terminate technology used for compliance 

11 with the Bank Secrecy Act (as defined under section 

12 5312 of title 31, United States Code) or other anti13 money laundering laws. 

14 SEC. 305. FINCEN STUDY ON USE OF EMERGING TECH15 NOLOGIES. 

16 (a) STUDY.— 

17 (1) IN GENERAL.—The Director of the Finan18 cial Crimes Enforcement Network (‘‘FinCEN’’) shall 

19 carry out a study on— 

20 (A) the status of implementation and in21 ternal use of emerging technologies, including 

22 artificial intelligence (‘‘AI’’), digital identity 

23 technologies, blockchain technologies, and other 

24 innovative technologies within FinCEN; 
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1 (B) whether AI, digital identity tech2 nologies, blockchain technologies, and other in3 novative technologies can be further leveraged 

4 to make FinCEN’s data analysis more efficient 

5 and effective; and 

6 (C) how FinCEN could better utilize AI, 

7 digital identity technologies, blockchain tech8 nologies, and other innovative technologies to 

9 more actively analyze and disseminate the infor10 mation it collects and stores to provide inves11 tigative leads to Federal, State, Tribal, and 

12 local law enforcement, and other Federal agen13 cies (collective, ‘‘Agencies’’), and better support 

14 its ongoing investigations when referring a case 

15 to the Agencies. 

16 (2) INCLUSION OF GTO DATA.—The study re17 quired under this subsection shall include data col18 lected through the Geographic Targeting Orders 

19 (‘‘GTO’’) program. 

20 (3) CONSULTATION.—In conducting the study 

21 required under this subsection, FinCEN shall con22 sult with the Directors of the Innovations Labs es23 tablished in section 302. 

24 (b) REPORT.—Not later than the end of the 6-month 

25 period beginning on the date of the enactment of this Act, 
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1 the Director shall issue a report to the Committee on 

2 Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs of the Senate and 

3 the Committee on Financial Services of the House of Rep4 resentatives containing— 

5 (1) all findings and determinations made in car6 rying out the study required under subsection (a); 

7 (2) with respect to each of subparagraphs (A), 

8 (B) and (C) of subsection (a)(1), any best practices 

9 or significant concerns identified by the Director, 

10 and their applicability to AI, digital identity tech11 nologies, blockchain technologies, and other innova12 tive technologies with respect to U.S. efforts to com13 bat money laundering and other forms of illicit fi14 nance; and 

15 (3) any policy recommendations that could fa16 cilitate and improve communication and coordination 

17 between the private sector, FinCEN, and Agencies 

18 through the implementation of innovative ap19 proaches, in order to meet their Bank Secrecy Act 

20 (as defined under section 5312 of title 31, United 

21 States Code) and anti-money laundering compliance 

22 obligations. 

23 SEC. 306. DISCRETIONARY SURPLUS FUNDS. 

24 (a) IN GENERAL.—Section 7(a)(3)(A) of the Federal 

25 Reserve Act (12 U.S.C. 289(a)(3)(A)) is amended by 
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1 striking ‘‘$6,825,000,000’’ and inserting 

2 ‘‘$6,798,000,000’’. 

3 (b) EFFECTIVE DATE.—The amendment made by 

4 subsection (a) shall take effect on September 30, 2029. 

Passed the House of Representatives October 22, 

2019. 

Attest: 

Clerk. 
116TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 2513 

AN ACT 

To ensure that persons who form corporations or 

ity companies, and for other purposes. ing United States corporations and limited liabilmoney laundering, and other misconduct involvin detecting, preventing, and punishing terrorism, nies for criminal gain, to assist law enforcement States corporations and limited liability compaprevent wrongdoers from exploiting United tions or limited liability companies, in order to disclose the beneficial owners of those corporalimited liability companies in the United States