I 

115TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION H. R. 6068 

To update dollar amount thresholds for certain currency transaction reports 

and suspicious activity reports, to improve the sharing of suspicious 

activity reports within a financial group, and for other purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

JUNE 12, 2018 

Mr. PEARCE (for himself and Mr. LUETKEMEYER) introduced the following 

bill; which was referred to the Committee on Financial Services 

A BILL 

To update dollar amount thresholds for certain currency 

transaction reports and suspicious activity reports, to 

improve the sharing of suspicious activity reports within 

a financial group, and for other purposes. 

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

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Counter Terrorism and 

5 Illicit Finance Act’’. 


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1 SEC. 2. UPDATING THRESHOLDS FOR CERTAIN CURRENCY 

2 TRANSACTION REPORTS AND SUSPICIOUS 

3 ACTIVITY REPORTS. 

4 (a) THRESHOLDS FOR CERTAIN CURRENCY TRANS5 ACTION REPORTS.— 

6 (1) IN GENERAL.—Not later than the end of 

7 the 180-day period beginning on the date of the en8 actment of this Act, the Secretary of the Treasury 

9 shall revise regulations issued with respect to section 

10 5313 of title 31, United States Code, to update each 

11 $10,000 threshold amount in such regulations to 

12 $30,000. 

13 (2) THRESHOLD FOR REPORTS RELATING TO

14 COINS AND CURRENCY RECEIVED IN NONFINANCIAL

15 TRADE OR BUSINESS.—Section 5331 of title 31, 

16 United States Code, is amended by striking 

17 ‘‘$10,000’’ each place such term appears in heading 

18 or text and inserting ‘‘$30,000’’. 

19 (b) THRESHOLDS FOR SUSPICIOUS ACTIVITY RE20 PORTS.—Not later than the end of the 180-day period be21 ginning on the date of the enactment of this Act, each 

22 Federal department or agency that issues regulations with 

23 respect to reports on suspicious transactions described 

24 under section 5318(g) of title 31, United States Code, 

25 shall update each $5,000 threshold amount in such regulaVerDate Sep 11 2014 02:27 Jun 13, 2018 Jkt 079200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H6068.IH H6068

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1 tions to $10,000 and each $2,000 threshold amount in 

2 such regulation to $3,000. 

3 (c) UPDATING THE MONEY SERVICES BUSINESS

4 DEFINITION THRESHOLDS.—Not later than the end of the 

5 180-day period beginning on the date of the enactment 

6 of this Act, the Secretary of the Treasury shall revise sec7 tion 1010.100(ff) of title 31, Code of Federal Regulations, 

8 to update each $1,000 threshold amount in such regula9 tions to $3,000. 

10 SEC. 3. STREAMLINING REQUIREMENTS FOR CURRENCY 

11 TRANSACTION REPORTS AND SUSPICIOUS 

12 ACTIVITY REPORTS. 

13 (a) REVIEW.—The Secretary of the Treasury (in con14 sultation with Federal law enforcement agencies, the Di15 rector of National Intelligence, and the Federal functional 

16 regulators and in consultation with other relevant stake17 holders) shall undertake a formal review of the current 

18 financial institution reporting requirements under the 

19 Bank Secrecy Act and its implementing regulations and 

20 propose changes to further reduce regulatory burdens, and 

21 ensure that the information provided is of a ‘‘high degree 

22 of usefulness’’ to law enforcement, as set forth under sec23 tion 5311 of title 31, United States Code. 

24 (b) CONTENTS.—The review required under sub25 section (a) shall include a study of— 


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1 (1) whether the timeframe for filing a sus2 picious activity report should be increased from 30 

3 days; 

4 (2) whether or not currency transaction report 

5 and suspicious activity report thresholds should be 

6 tied to inflation or otherwise periodically be ad7 justed; 

8 (3) whether the circumstances under which a fi9 nancial institution determines whether to file a ‘‘con10 tinuing suspicious activity report’’, or the processes 

11 followed by a financial institution in determining 

12 whether to file a ‘‘continuing suspicious activity re13 port’’ (or both) can be narrowed; 

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

15 on the suspicious activity report form and whether 

16 the number of fields should be reduced; 

17 (5) the categories, types, and characteristics of 

18 suspicious activity reports and currency transaction 

19 reports that are of the greatest value to, and that 

20 best support, investigative priorities of law enforce21 ment and national security personnel; 

22 (6) the increased use of exemption provisions to 

23 reduce currency transaction reports that are of little 

24 or no value to law enforcement efforts; 


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1 (7) the most appropriate ways to promote fi2 nancial inclusion and address the adverse con3 sequences of financial institutions de-risking entire 

4 categories of high-risk relationships, including char5 ities, embassy accounts, money service businesses (as 

6 defined under section 1010.100(ff) of title 31, Code 

7 of Federal Regulations), and correspondent banks; 

8 (8) the current financial institution reporting 

9 requirements under the Bank Secrecy Act and its 

10 implementing regulations and guidance; and 

11 (9) such other items as the Secretary deter12 mines appropriate. 

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

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

15 the Secretary of the Treasury, in consultation with law 

16 enforcement and persons subject to Bank Secrecy Act re17 quirements, shall issue a report to the Congress containing 

18 all findings and determinations made in carrying out the 

19 review required under subsection (a). 

20 SEC. 4. SHARING OF SUSPICIOUS ACTIVITY REPORTS WITH21 IN A FINANCIAL GROUP. 

22 (a) IN GENERAL.— 

23 (1) SHARING WITH FOREIGN BRANCHES AND

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


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

2 following: 

3 ‘‘(5) SHARING WITH FOREIGN BRANCHES, SUB4 SIDIARIES, AND AFFILIATES.— 

5 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 180 

6 days after the date of the enactment of this 

7 paragraph, the Secretary of the Treasury shall 

8 issue rules permitting any financial institution 

9 with a reporting obligation under this sub10 section to share information on reports under 

11 this subsection with the institution’s foreign 

12 branches, subsidiaries, and affiliates for the 

13 purposes of combating illicit finance risks, not14 withstanding any other provision of law except 

15 subparagraph (B). 

16 ‘‘(B) EXCEPTION.—In issuing the regula17 tions required under subparagraph (A), the 

18 Secretary may not permit a financial institution 

19 to share information on reports under this sub20 section with a foreign branch, subsidiary, or af21 filiate located in a jurisdiction that— 

22 ‘‘(i) is subject to countermeasures im23 posed by the Federal Government; or 


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1 ‘‘(ii) the Secretary has determined 

2 cannot reasonably protect the privacy and 

3 confidentiality of such information.’’. 

4 (2) NOTIFICATION PROHIBITIONS.—Section 

5 5318(g)(2)(A) of title 31, United States Code, is 

6 amended— 

7 (A) in clause (i), by inserting after ‘‘trans8 action has been reported’’ the following: ‘‘or 

9 otherwise reveal any information that would re10 veal that the transaction has been reported, in11 cluding materials prepared or used by the fi12 nancial institution for the purpose of identifying 

13 and detecting potentially suspicious activity’’; 

14 and 

15 (B) in clause (ii), by inserting after ‘‘trans16 action has been reported,’’ the following: ‘‘or 

17 otherwise reveal any information that would re18 veal that the transaction has been reported, in19 cluding materials prepared or used by the fi20 nancial institution for the purpose of identifying 

21 and detecting potentially suspicious activity,’’. 

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

23 180-day period beginning on the date of enactment of this 

24 Act, the Secretary of the Treasury shall issue regulations 

25 to carry out the amendments made by this section. 


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1 SEC. 5. FINCEN NO-ACTION LETTERS. 

2 Section 310 of title 31, United States Code, is 

3 amended— 

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

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

8 ‘‘(d) NO-ACTION LETTERS WITH RESPECT TO SPE9 CIFIC CONDUCT.— 

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

11 shall issue regulations to establish a process for the 

12 issuance of a no-action letter by FinCEN in re13 sponse to an inquiry from a person or group of per14 sons concerning the application of the Bank Secrecy 

15 Act, the USA PATRIOT Act, or any other anti16 money laundering and counter terrorist financing 

17 law or regulation to specific conduct, which shall in18 clude a statement as to whether or not FinCEN has 

19 any intention of taking an enforcement or other reg20 ulatory action against the person or group with re21 spect to such conduct. 

22 ‘‘(2) CONSULTATION.—In issuing the regula23 tions described under paragraph (1), the Secretary 

24 shall consult with the Federal functional regulators 

25 and such other Federal departments and agencies as 

26 the Secretary determines appropriate. 


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1 ‘‘(3) RELIANCE ON NO-ACTION LETTER.— 

2 ‘‘(A) LIABILITY.—Notwithstanding any 

3 other provisions of law, except for paragraph 

4 (5)(B), a person described under subparagraph 

5 (B) who relies upon a no-action letter issued 

6 under this subsection in accordance with the 

7 provisions and findings of such letter shall not, 

8 as a result, be subject to any regulatory action 

9 or civil or criminal penalty under the Bank Se10 crecy Act, the USA PATRIOT Act, or any 

11 other anti-money laundering and counter ter12 rorist financing law or regulation with respect 

13 to the activity covered in the no-action letter. 

14 ‘‘(B) PERSONS COVERED.—A person de15 scribed in this paragraph is— 

16 ‘‘(i) any person involved in the specific 

17 conduct that is the subject of the no-action 

18 letter; and 

19 ‘‘(ii) any person involved in conduct 

20 which is indistinguishable in all its mate21 rial aspects from the specific conduct that 

22 is the subject of the no-action letter. 

23 ‘‘(4) FEES.— 

24 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—The Director of 

25 FinCEN shall develop a system to charge a fee 


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1 for each request for a no-action letter made 

2 under this subsection in an amount sufficient, 

3 in the aggregate, to pay for the cost of carrying 

4 out this subsection. Such system shall provide 

5 for a lower fee for small business concerns and 

6 small financial institutions compared to other 

7 persons. 

8 ‘‘(B) NOTICE AND COMMENT.—Not later 

9 than 45 days after the date of the enactment of 

10 this paragraph, the Director of FinCEN shall 

11 publish a description of the fee system de12 scribed in subparagraph (A) in the Federal 

13 Register and shall solicit comments from the 

14 public for a period of 60 days after publication. 

15 ‘‘(C) FINALIZATION.—The Director of 

16 FinCEN shall publish a final description of the 

17 fee system and implement such fee system not 

18 later than 30 days after the end of the public 

19 comment period described in subparagraph (B). 

20 ‘‘(5) MODIFYING OR RESCINDING A NO-ACTION

21 LETTER.— 

22 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—The Director of 

23 FinCEN may modify or rescind any no-action 

24 letter issued under this subsection if— 


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1 ‘‘(i) in light of changes in statute, reg2 ulations, or policy the letter no longer sets 

3 forth the interpretation of FinCEN with 

4 respect to the content of the letter; or 

5 ‘‘(ii) any fact or statement submitted 

6 in the original inquiry is found to be mate7 rially inaccurate or incomplete. 

8 ‘‘(B) NO RELIANCE ON RESCINDED LET9 TER.—Paragraph (3) shall not apply to the any 

10 actions taken after the date that a no-action 

11 letter is rescinded. 

12 ‘‘(C) RETROACTIVE MODIFICATION OR RE13 SCISSION.—A no-action letter may be modified 

14 or rescinded retroactively only with respect to 

15 one or more parties to the original inquiry and 

16 only if the Director of FinCEN determines 

17 that— 

18 ‘‘(i) a fact or statement in the original 

19 inquiry was materially inaccurate or in20 complete; 

21 ‘‘(ii) the requestor failed to notify in 

22 writing FinCEN of a material change to 

23 any fact or statement in the original re24 quest; or 


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1 ‘‘(iii) a party to the original inquiry 

2 acted in bad faith when relying upon the 

3 no-action letter. 

4 ‘‘(D) NOTICE OF MODIFICATION AND RE5 SCISSION.—In the case that the Director of 

6 FinCEN modifies or rescinds a no-action letter 

7 under this subsection, the Director of FinCEN 

8 shall— 

9 ‘‘(i) provide notice of such modifica10 tion or rescission; 

11 ‘‘(ii) establish a reasonable time pe12 riod, of not less than 90 days, in which im13 pacted persons may update their anti14 money laundering programs or processes to 

15 achieve compliance with the Bank Secrecy 

16 Act, the USA PATRIOT Act, or any other 

17 anti-money laundering and counter ter18 rorist financing law or regulation. 

19 ‘‘(6) DEFINITIONS.—For purposes of this sub20 section: 

21 ‘‘(A) BANK SECRECY ACT.—The term 

22 ‘Bank Secrecy Act’ means— 

23 ‘‘(i) section 21 of the Federal Deposit 

24 Insurance Act; 


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1 ‘‘(ii) chapter 2 of title I of Public Law 

2 91–508; and 

3 ‘‘(iii) subchapter II of chapter 53 of 

4 this title. 

5 ‘‘(B) FEDERAL FUNCTIONAL REGU6 LATOR.—The term ‘Federal functional regu7 lator’ has the meaning given that term under 

8 section 5312 of title 31, United States Code. 

9 ‘‘(C) SMALL BUSINESS CONCERN.—The 

10 term ‘small business concern’ has the meaning 

11 given under section 3 of the Small Business 

12 Act.’’. 

13 SEC. 6. REQUIRING TREASURY TO TAKE A MORE PROMI14 NENT ROLE IN COORDINATING AML/CFT POL15 ICY AND EXAMINATIONS ACROSS THE GOV16 ERNMENT. 

17 (a) PRIORITIES.—Not later than nine months after 

18 the date of the enactment of this Act, and at least annu19 ally thereafter, the Secretary of the Treasury, acting 

20 through the Office of Terrorism and Financial Intelligence 

21 and the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network, in con22 sultation with relevant Federal law enforcement, the Di23 rector of National Intelligence, and any other Federal de24 partments and agencies that the Secretary of the Treasury 

25 determines appropriate, shall establish and make public 


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1 its priorities for U.S. anti-money laundering and counter 

2 terrorist financing policy. 

3 (b) SUPERVISION AND EXAMINATION.—The incorpo4 ration by financial institutions of the priorities established 

5 pursuant to subsection (a) into the programs established 

6 by those financial institutions to meet obligations under 

7 the Bank Secrecy Act, the USA PATRIOT Act, and other 

8 anti-money laundering and counter terrorist financing 

9 laws and regulations shall form the basis on which the 

10 financial institutions are supervised and examined for 

11 compliance with those obligations. 

12 (c) RULE OF CONSTRUCTION.—Nothing in sub13 section (a) may be construed as releasing financial institu14 tions from the requirement to comply with obligations 

15 under the Bank Secrecy Act and other Federal laws and 

16 regulations. 

17 (d) REPORT.—Not later than nine months after the 

18 date of enactment of this Act, the Secretary of the Treas19 ury (in consultation with Federal law enforcement agen20 cies, the Director of National Intelligence, and the Federal 

21 functional regulators) shall submit to the Committee on 

22 Financial Services of the House of Representatives and 

23 the Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs 

24 of the Senate a report containing— 


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1 (1) an analysis of the Secretary of the Treas2 ury’s delegation of examination authority under the 

3 Bank Secrecy Act, including the adequacy of the De4 partment of the Treasury’s resources, capacity, ex5 pertise, and ability to effectively carry out the pur6 poses of the Bank Secrecy Act; 

7 (2) an examination of whether the Secretary 

8 should de-delegate that authority with regard to cer9 tain financial institutions; and 

10 (3) legislative, administrative, and other rec11 ommendations to strengthen the Department of the 

12 Treasury’s authority to ensure an effective U.S. 

13 anti-money laundering and counter terrorist financ14 ing regime. 

15 SEC. 7. ENCOURAGING THE USE OF TECHNOLOGICAL INNO16 VATIONS. 

17 Section 5318(h) of title 31, United States Code, is 

18 amended by adding at the end the following: 

19 ‘‘(4) ENCOURAGING THE USE OF TECHNO20 LOGICAL INNOVATIONS.— 

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

22 Treasury shall, in carrying out this subsection, 

23 encourage but not require the use of techno24 logical innovations that improve anti-money 


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1 laundering programs described under paragraph 

2 (1). 

3 ‘‘(B) SAFE HARBOR.—An anti-money laun4 dering program that meets the minimum re5 quirements described under paragraph (1) and 

6 any minimum standards issued pursuant to 

7 paragraph (2), shall not violate the require8 ments of this subsection by reason of any tech9 nological innovation used to carry out such pro10 gram. 

11 ‘‘(C) RULE OF CONSTRUCTION.—Nothing 

12 in subparagraph (A) may be construed as re13 leasing financial institutions from the require14 ment to comply with existing obligations under 

15 the Bank Secrecy Act and other Federal laws 

16 and regulations.’’. 

17 SEC. 8. ASSESSING THE USEFULNESS OF BANK SECRECY 

18 ACT REPORTING. 

19 (a) ANNUAL REPORT.—Not later than one year after 

20 the date of enactment of this Act, and annually thereafter, 

21 the Attorney General, in consultation with Federal law en22 forcement agencies and the Director of National Intel23 ligence, shall, to the extent practicable at the discretion 

24 of the Attorney General, provide the Secretary of the 


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1 Treasury with statistics, metrics, and other information 

2 on the use of such data, including— 

3 (1) the extent to which such data is used for 

4 terrorism versus non-terrorism related investigations 

5 and, with respect to such non-terrorism related in6 vestigations, the most common types of laws to 

7 which such investigations relate; 

8 (2) the frequency with which such data contains 

9 ‘‘actionable information’’ which leads to further law 

10 enforcement procedures, including the use of a sub11 poena, warrant, or other legal process; and 

12 (3) information on the extent to which arrests, 

13 indictments, convictions, or plea bargains of actors 

14 result from the use of such data. 

15 (b) USE OF REPORT INFORMATION.—The Secretary 

16 of the Treasury shall utilize the information reported 

17 under subsection (a)— 

18 (1) to help assess the usefulness of Bank Se19 crecy Act reporting to law enforcement; 

20 (2) to enhance feedback and communications 

21 with financial institutions and other entities subject 

22 to Bank Secrecy Act requirements; and 

23 (3) for such other purposes as the Secretary de24 termines appropriate. 


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1 SEC. 9. 18-MONTH ENFORCEMENT SAFE HARBOR OF CDD 

2 RULE. 

3 No person shall be liable for any violation of the final 

4 rule of the Department of the Treasury titled ‘‘Customer 

5 Due Diligence Requirements for Financial Institutions’’ 

6 (‘‘CDD rule’’) published May 11, 2016 (81 Fed. Reg. 

7 29397), during the 18-month period beginning on May 11, 

8 2018, so long as such person has made a good faith effort 

9 to comply with such requirements. 

10 SEC. 10. STUDIES AND REPORTS. 

11 (a) BENEFICIAL OWNERSHIP.—Not later than 2 

12 years after the date of enactment of this Act, the Comp13 troller General of the United States shall conduct a study 

14 and submit to the Congress a report— 

15 (1) evaluating the effectiveness of the collection 

16 of beneficial ownership information under the CDD 

17 rule (as defined under section 9), including— 

18 (A) whether law enforcement agencies have 

19 had timely access to the information; 

20 (B) the utility of such information in law 

21 enforcement investigations or prosecutions; 

22 (C) an analysis of the reporting burden 

23 placed on financial institutions versus the utility 

24 of such information being made available to law 

25 enforcement; and 


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1 (D) whether further legislation is required 

2 to reduce regulatory burdens or increase the 

3 utility and timely access of such information to 

4 law enforcement; 

5 (2) assessing the effectiveness of incorporation 

6 practices implemented under the CDD rule. 

7 (b) COMPREHENSIVE COST-BENEFIT ANALYSIS.— 

8 Not later than 2 years after the date of enactment of this 

9 Act, the Comptroller General of the United States shall 

10 conduct a study and submit to the Congress a report— 

11 (1) providing a comprehensive quantitative and 

12 qualitative estimate of the annualized costs to the 

13 private sector to comply with the statutory and regu14 latory requirements of the Bank Secrecy Act and re15 lated anti-money laundering laws and regulations; 

16 (2) providing a comprehensive qualitative and 

17 quantitative analysis of the effectiveness of the cur18 rent anti-money laundering and counter terrorist fi19 nancing framework in preventing, detecting, and 

20 prosecuting terrorist and illicit financing; 

21 (3) providing a comprehensive qualitative and 

22 quantitative analysis of the benefits and costs to 

23 both the private sector and the Government of the 

24 private sector’s compliance with the statutory and 

25 regulatory requirements of the Bank Secrecy Act 


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1 and related anti-money laundering laws and regula2 tions; and 

3 (4) examining the costs borne and effect on ac4 cess to financial services for consumers and cus5 tomers as a result of financial institutions compli6 ance with the statutory and regulatory requirements 

7 of the Bank Secrecy Act and related anti-money 

8 laundering laws and regulations. 

9 SEC. 11. DEFINITIONS. 

10 For purposes of this Act: 

11 (1) BANK SECRECY ACT.—The term ‘‘Bank Se12 crecy Act’’ means— 

13 (A) section 21 of the Federal Deposit In14 surance Act; 

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

16 508; and 

17 (C) subchapter II of chapter 53 of title 31, 

18 United States Code. 

19 (2) FEDERAL FUNCTIONAL REGULATOR.—The 

20 term ‘‘Federal functional regulator’’ has the mean21 ing given that term under section 5312 of title 31, 

22 United States Code. 


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1 (3) FINANCIAL INSTITUTION.—The term ‘‘fi2 nancial institution’’ has the meaning given that term 

3 under section 5312 of title 31, United States Code. 

Æ 


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