I 
116TH CONGRESS 
1ST SESSION H. R. 2514 
To make reforms to the Federal Bank Secrecy Act and anti-money laundering 
laws, and for other purposes. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
MAY 3, 2019 
Mr. CLEAVER introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Com-
mittee on Financial Services, and in addition to the Committee on Ways 
and Means, for a period to be subsequently determined by the Speaker, 
in each case for consideration of such provisions as fall within the juris-
diction of the committee concerned 
A BILL 
To make reforms to the Federal Bank Secrecy Act and 
anti-money laundering laws, and for other purposes. 
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-
tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE; TABLE OF CONTENTS. 
(a) SHORT TITLE.—This Act may be cited as the 
‘‘Coordinating Oversight, Upgrading and Innovating 
Technology, and Examiner Reform Act of 2019’’ or the 
‘‘COUNTER Act of 2019’’. 
(b) TABLE OF CONTENTS.—The table of contents for 
this Act is as follows: 
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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. FinCEN Compensation. 
Sec. 103. Civil Liberties and Privacy Officer. 
Sec. 104. Privacy and Civil Liberties Council. 
Sec. 105. International coordination. 
Sec. 106. Treasury Attache´ 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. De-risking report. 
TITLE II—IMPROVING AML/CFT OVERSIGHT 
Sec. 201. Sharing of suspicious activity reports within a financial group. 
Sec. 202. Training for examiners on AML/CFT. 
Sec. 203. Sharing of compliance resources. 
Sec. 204. GAO Study on feedback loops. 
Sec. 205. FinCEN study on BSA value. 
Sec. 206. Section 314(a) improvements. 
Sec. 207. Sharing of threat pattern and trend information. 
Sec. 208. Modernization and upgrading whistleblower protections. 
Sec. 209. Certain violators barred from serving on public company boards. 
Sec. 210. Additional damages for repeat Bank Secrecy Act violators. 
Sec. 211. Justice annual report on deferred and nonprosecution agreements. 
Sec. 212. Return of profits and bonuses. 
Sec. 213. Prohibition on tax deductions for attorney’s fees related to Bank Se-
crecy Act settlements and court costs. 
Sec. 214. Application of Bank Secrecy Act to dealers in art or antiquities. 
Sec. 215. Revision to geographic targeting order. 
TITLE III—MODERNIZING THE AML SYSTEM 
Sec. 301. Encouraging innovation in BSA compliance. 
Sec. 302. Innovation Labs. 
Sec. 303. Innovation Council. 
Sec. 304. Parallel runs rulemaking. 
SEC. 2. BANK SECRECY ACT DEFINITION. 
Section 5312(a) of title 31, United States Code, is 
amended by adding at the end the following: 
‘‘(6) BANK SECRECY ACT.—The term ‘Bank Se-
crecy act’ means— 
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‘‘(A) section 21 of the Federal Deposit In-
surance Act; 
‘‘(B) chapter 2 of title I of Public Law 91– 
508; and 
‘‘(C) this subchapter.’’. 
TITLE I—STRENGTHENING 
TREASURY 
SEC. 101. IMPROVING THE DEFINITION AND PURPOSE OF 
THE BANK SECRECY ACT. 
Section 5311 of title 31, United States Code, is 
amended— 
(1) by inserting ‘‘to protect our national secu-
rity, to safeguard the integrity of the international 
financial system, and’’ before ‘‘to require’’; and 
(2) by inserting ‘‘to law enforcement’’ before 
‘‘in criminal’’. 
SEC. 102. FINCEN COMPENSATION. 
Section 310 of title 31, United States Code, is 
amended— 
(1) by redesignating subsection (d) as sub-
section (f); and 
(2) by inserting after subsection (c) the fol-
lowing: 
‘‘(d) EMPLOYEE COMPENSATION.—In fixing the com-
pensation for employees of FinCEN, the Secretary shall— 
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‘‘(1) fix such compensation without regard to 
the provisions of chapter 51 or subchapter III of 
chapter 53 of title 5, United States Code; and 
‘‘(2) ensure that such compensation is com-
parable to the compensation provided by the Board 
of Governors of the Federal Reserve System, the 
Bureau of Consumer Financial Protection, the Fed-
eral Deposit Insurance Corporation, the National 
Credit Union Administration, and the Office of the 
Comptroller of the Currency.’’. 
SEC. 103. CIVIL LIBERTIES AND PRIVACY OFFICER. 
(a) APPOINTMENT OF OFFICERS.—Not later than the 
end of the 3-month period beginning on the date of enact-
ment of this Act, a Civil Liberties and Privacy Officer 
shall be appointed, from among individuals who are attor-
neys with expertise in data privacy laws— 
(1) within each Federal financial regulator, by 
the head of the Federal financial regulator; 
(2) within the Financial Crimes Enforcement 
Network, by the Secretary of the Treasury; and 
(3) within the Internal Revenue Service Crimi-
nal Investigation, by the Secretary of the Treasury. 
(b) DUTIES.—Each Civil Liberties and Privacy Offi-
cer shall, with respect to the applicable regulator, Net-
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work, or Investigation within which the Officer is lo-
cated— 
(1) be consulted each time the regulations are 
developed or reviewed; 
(2) be consulted on information-sharing activi-
ties, including activities that provide access to per-
sonally identifiable information; and 
(3) contribute to the evaluation and regulation 
of new technologies. 
(c) FEDERAL FINANCIAL REGULATOR DEFINED.— 
For purposes of this section, the term ‘‘Federal financial 
regulator’’ means the Board of Governors of the Federal 
Reserve System, the Bureau of Consumer Financial Pro-
tection, the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation, the 
National Credit Union Administration, and the Office of 
the Comptroller of the Currency. 
SEC. 104. PRIVACY AND CIVIL LIBERTIES COUNCIL. 
(a) ESTABLISHMENT.—There is established the Pri-
vacy and Civil Liberties Council (hereinafter in this sec-
tion referred to as the ‘‘Council’’), which shall consist of 
the Civil Liberties and Privacy Officers appointed pursu-
ant to section 103. 
(b) CHAIR.—The Civil Liberties and Privacy Officer 
of the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network shall serve 
as the Chair of the Council. 
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(c) DUTY.—The members of the Council shall coordi-
nate on activities related to their duties as Privacy and 
Civil Liberties Officers. 
(d) MEETINGS.—The meetings of the Council— 
(1) shall be at the call of the Chair, but in no 
case may the Council meet less than quarterly; 
(2) may include open and closed sessions, as de-
termined necessary by the Council; and 
(3) may include participation by public and pri-
vate entities and law enforcement agencies. 
(e) REPORT.—The Council shall issue an annual re-
port to the Congress on the activities of the Council during 
the previous year and any legislative recommendations 
that the Council may have. 
SEC. 105. INTERNATIONAL COORDINATION. 
The Secretary of the Treasury shall work with the 
Secretary’s foreign counterparts, including through the 
Financial Action Task Force, the International Monetary 
Fund, the World Bank, and the United Nations, to pro-
mote stronger anti-money laundering frameworks and en-
forcement of anti-money laundering laws. 
SEC. 106. TREASURY ATTACHE´ PROGRAM. 
(a) IN GENERAL.—Title 31, United States Code, is 
amended by inserting after section 315 the following: 
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‘‘(b) AWARDS.— 
‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—In any covered judicial or 
administrative action, or related action, the Sec-
retary, under such rules as the Secretary may issue 
and subject to subsection (c), shall pay an award or 
awards to 1 or more whistleblowers who voluntarily 
provided original information to FinCEN that led to 
the successful enforcement of the covered judicial or 
administrative action, or related action, in an aggre-
gate amount equal to— 
‘‘(A) not less than 10 percent, in total, of 
what has been collected of the monetary sanc-
tions imposed in the action or related actions; 
and 
‘‘(B) not more than 30 percent, in total, of 
what has been collected of the monetary sanc-
tions imposed in the action or related actions. 
‘‘(2) SOURCE OF AWARDS.—For the purposes of 
paying any award under paragraph (1) there are au-
thorized to be appropriated such sums as may be 
necessary, and the Secretary may also use funds 
from the Department of the Treasury Forfeiture 
Fund and the Department of Justice Assets For-
feiture Fund. 
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