I 

113TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION H. R. 4986 

To amend certain banking statutes in response to Operation Choke Point. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

JUNE 26, 2014 

Mr. LUETKEMEYER introduced the following bill; which was referred to the 

Committee on Financial Services 

A BILL 

To amend certain banking statutes in response to Operation 

Choke Point. 

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 ‘‘End Operation Choke 

5 Point Act of 2014’’. 

6 SEC. 2. BUSINESS ACCESS TO INSURED DEPOSITORY INSTI7 TUTIONS. 

8 (a) IN GENERAL.—The Federal Deposit Insurance 

9 Act (12 U.S.C. 1811 et seq.) is amended by adding at 

10 the end the following new section: 


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1 ‘‘SEC. 51. BUSINESS ACCESS TO INSURED DEPOSITORY IN2 STITUTIONS. 

3 ‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—The Federal banking agencies 

4 may not prohibit or otherwise restrict or discourage an 

5 insured depository institution from providing any product 

6 or service to an entity that demonstrates to the insured 

7 depository institution that such entity— 

8 ‘‘(1) is licensed and authorized to offer such 

9 product or service; 

10 ‘‘(2) is registered as a money transmitting busi11 ness under section 5330 of title 31, United States 

12 Code, or regulations promulgated under such sec13 tion; or 

14 ‘‘(3) has a reasoned legal opinion that dem15 onstrates the legality of the entity’s business under 

16 applicable law. 

17 ‘‘(b) RULE OF CONSTRUCTION.—Nothing in this sec18 tion shall be construed to— 

19 ‘‘(1) require an insured depository institution— 

20 ‘‘(A) to provide any product or service to 

21 any particular entity; 

22 ‘‘(B) to regularly review the status of any 

23 license of an entity; or 

24 ‘‘(C) to determine the validity or veracity 

25 of any reasoned legal opinion obtained under 

26 subsection (a)(3); or 


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1 ‘‘(2) imply or require that an insured depository 

2 institution may only provide products or services to 

3 an entity that has met any of the requirements of 

4 paragraphs (1) through (3) of subsection (a). 

5 ‘‘(c) LIMITATION ON RULEMAKING.—The Federal 

6 banking agencies may not issue any guidance under sub7 section (a). Any rule implementing subsection (a) shall be 

8 promulgated in accordance with section 553 of title 5, 

9 United States Code. 

10 ‘‘(d) REASONED LEGAL OPINION DEFINED.—For 

11 purposes of this section, the term ‘reasoned legal opin12 ion’— 

13 ‘‘(1) means a written legal opinion by a State14 licensed attorney that addresses the facts of a par15 ticular business and the legality of the business’s 

16 provision of products or services to customers in the 

17 relevant jurisdictions under applicable Federal and 

18 State law, tribal ordinances, tribal resolutions, and 

19 tribal-State compacts; and 

20 ‘‘(2) does not include a written legal opinion 

21 that recites the facts of a particular business and 

22 states a conclusion.’’. 


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1 SEC. 3. BUSINESS ACCESS TO FEDERAL CREDIT UNIONS. 

2 Title I of the Federal Credit Union Act (12 U.S.C. 

3 1751 et seq.) is amended by adding at the end the fol4 lowing new section: 

5 ‘‘SEC. 132. BUSINESS ACCESS TO INSURED CREDIT UNIONS. 

6 ‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—The Board may not prohibit or 

7 otherwise restrict or discourage an insured credit union 

8 from providing any product or service to an entity that 

9 demonstrates to the insured credit union that such enti10 ty— 

11 ‘‘(1) is licensed and authorized to offer such 

12 product or service; 

13 ‘‘(2) is registered as a money transmitting busi14 ness under section 5330 of title 31, United States 

15 Code, or regulations promulgated under such sec16 tion; and 

17 ‘‘(3) has a reasoned legal opinion that dem18 onstrates the legality of the entity’s business under 

19 applicable law. 

20 ‘‘(b) RULE OF CONSTRUCTION.—Nothing in this sec21 tion shall be construed to— 

22 ‘‘(1) require an insured credit union— 

23 ‘‘(A) to provide any products or services to 

24 any entity; 

25 ‘‘(B) to regularly review the status of any 

26 license of an entity; or 


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1 ‘‘(C) to determine the validity or veracity 

2 of any reasoned legal opinion obtained under 

3 subsection (a)(3); or 

4 ‘‘(2) imply or require that an insured credit 

5 union may only provide products or services to an 

6 entity that has met any of the requirements of para7 graphs (1) through (3) of subsection (a). 

8 ‘‘(c) LIMITATION ON RULEMAKING.—The Board may 

9 not issue any guidance under subsection (a). Any rule im10 plementing subsection (a) shall be promulgated in accord11 ance with section 553 of title 5, United States Code. 

12 ‘‘(d) REASONED LEGAL OPINION DEFINED.—For 

13 purposes of this section, the term ‘reasoned legal opin14 ion’— 

15 ‘‘(1) means a written legal opinion by a State16 licensed attorney that addresses the facts of a par17 ticular business and the legality of the business’s 

18 provision of products or services to customers in the 

19 relevant jurisdictions under applicable Federal and 

20 State law, tribal ordinances, tribal resolutions, and 

21 tribal-State compacts; and 

22 ‘‘(2) does not include a written legal opinion 

23 that recites the facts of a particular business and 

24 states a conclusion.’’. 


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1 SEC. 4. AMENDMENTS TO THE FINANCIAL INSTITUTIONS 

2 REFORM, RECOVERY, AND ENFORCEMENT 

3 ACT OF 1989. 

4 Section 951 of the Financial Institutions Reform, Re5 covery, and Enforcement Act of 1989 (12 U.S.C. 1833a) 

6 is amended— 

7 (1) in subsection (c)(2), by inserting ‘‘and 

8 where such violation or conspiracy to violate is in 

9 connection with a violation or conspiracy to violate 

10 a section described under paragraph (1)’’ after ‘‘fi11 nancial institution’’; and 

12 (2) in subsection (g)— 

13 (A) in the header, by striking ‘‘SUB14 POENAS’’ and inserting ‘‘INVESTIGATIONS’’; 

15 (B) in paragraph (1), by amending sub16 paragraph (C) to read as follows: 

17 ‘‘(C) request a court order from a court of 

18 competent jurisdiction, to summon witnesses 

19 and to require the production of any books, pa20 pers, correspondence, memoranda, or other 

21 records which the Attorney General deems rel22 evant or material to the inquiry, and which 

23 shall be issued only if the Attorney General of24 fers specific and articulable facts showing that 

25 there are reasonable grounds to believe that the 

26 information or testimony sought is relevant and 


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1 material to an ongoing civil proceeding under 

2 this section.’’; 

3 (C) by amending paragraph (2) to read as 

4 follows: 

5 ‘‘(2) ANNUAL REPORT TO CONGRESS ON

6 FIRREA COURT ORDERS.—The Attorney General 

7 shall submit a report before January 31 of each 

8 year, beginning the first January following the date 

9 of enactment of this Act, to the Committee on Fi10 nancial Services of the House of Representatives and 

11 the Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Af12 fairs of the Senate, which shall include a detailed de13 scription of— 

14 ‘‘(A) the number of court orders sought by 

15 the Attorney General and the number of orders 

16 issued; 

17 ‘‘(B) the recipient of the court orders; 

18 ‘‘(C) the number of documents requested 

19 and received; 

20 ‘‘(D) the number of witnesses requested to 

21 testify and the number who actually testified; 

22 and 

23 ‘‘(E) whether a civil enforcement action 

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1 ment action, including settlements that led to 

2 the dismissal of charges.’’; and 

3 (D) by striking paragraph (3). 

4 SEC. 5. REQUIRING COOPERATION TO DETER THE COMMIS5 SION OF FINANCIAL FRAUD. 

6 Subsection (a) of section 314 of the USA PATRIOT 

7 Act (31 U.S.C. 5311 note) is amended— 

8 (1) in paragraph (1), by inserting ‘‘, the com9 mission of financial fraud,’’ after ‘‘terrorist acts’’; 

10 (2) in paragraph (2)— 

11 (A) in subparagraph (B), by striking ‘‘; 

12 and’’ and inserting a semicolon; 

13 (B) in subparagraph (C), by striking the 

14 period at the end and inserting ‘‘; and’’; and 

15 (C) by adding at the end the following new 

16 subparagraph: 

17 ‘‘(D) means of facilitating the identifica18 tion of accounts and transactions involving per19 sons engaged in committing financial fraud, 

20 subject to the limitations described in para21 graph (5).’’; and 

22 (3) in paragraph (5), by striking ‘‘shall not be 

23 used’’ and all that follows through the period at the 

24 end and inserting the following: ‘‘shall not— 


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1 ‘‘(A) be used for any purpose other than 

2 identifying and reporting on activities that may 

3 involve terrorist acts, financial fraud, or money 

4 laundering; and 

5 ‘‘(B) be construed to require financial in6 stitutions to determine or assure compliance of 

7 any entity with any Federal, State, or other li8 censing requirements.’’. 

9 SEC. 6. LIABILITY FOR DISCLOSURES IN REPORTING SUS10 PICIOUS TRANSACTIONS. 

11 Paragraph (3) of section 5318(g) of title 31, United 

12 States Code, is amended— 

13 (1) in subparagraph (A), by inserting ‘‘, for any 

14 underlying activity that is the subject of the disclo15 sure,’’ after ‘‘for such disclosure’’; and 

16 (2) in subparagraph (B)(ii), by striking ‘‘civil 

17 or’’ before ‘‘criminal’’. 

18 SEC. 7. FINANCIAL CRIMES ENFORCEMENT NETWORK 

19 DATA ACCOUNTABILITY METRICS. 

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

21 amended— 

22 (1) in subsection (b)(2)(C)— 

23 (A) in clause (vi), by striking ‘‘; and’’ and 

24 inserting a semicolon; 


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1 (B) in clause (vii), by striking the period 

2 at the end and inserting ‘‘; and’’; and 

3 (C) by adding at the end the following new 

4 clause: 

5 ‘‘(viii) generate feedback and report 

6 on the utility of the data access service de7 scribed in subparagraph (B) and the infor8 mation collected by the service to improve 

9 cooperation among data providers and 

10 users while reducing regulatory burden and 

11 preserving payment system efficiency.’’; 

12 (2) in subsection (c)— 

13 (A) in paragraph (1)(C), by striking ‘‘; 

14 and’’ and inserting a semicolon; 

15 (B) in paragraph (2)(C), by striking the 

16 period at the end and inserting ‘‘; and’’; and 

17 (C) by adding at the end the following new 

18 paragraph: 

19 ‘‘(3) for appropriate metrics to monitor, track, 

20 assess, and report on access to information con21 tained in the data maintenance system maintained 

22 by FinCEN for— 

23 ‘‘(A) identifying, tracking, and measuring 

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1 forcement results obtained as a consequence of 

2 that use; and 

3 ‘‘(B) assuring accountability by law en4 forcement agencies for the utility, security, and 

5 privacy of such information while reducing un6 necessary regulatory burdens.’’. 

Æ 


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