I
104TH CONGRESS
2D SESSION
H. R. 3931
To amend the Financial Institutions Reform, Recovery, and Enforcement
Act of 1989 to require the development and implementation of a national
financial crimes strategy to combat financial crimes involving money
laundering and other related activities, and for other purposes.
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
JULY 31, 1996
Ms. VELA´ZQUEZ (for herself, Mr. RANGEL, Mr. SCHUMER, Mrs. MALONEY,
Mr. MANTON, Mr. ACKERMAN, Mr. TOWNS, Mrs. LOWEY, Mr. FLAKE,
Mr. NADLER, Mr. OWENS, Mr. SERRANO, Mr. ENGEL, Mr. GILMAN, Mr.
HINCHEY, and Mr. KING) introduced the following bill; which was re-
ferred to the Committee on Banking and Financial Services, and in addi-
tion to the Committee on the Judiciary, for a period to be subsequently
determined by the Speaker, in each case for consideration of such provi-
sions as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee concerned
A BILL
To amend the Financial Institutions Reform, Recovery, and
Enforcement Act of 1989 to require the development
and implementation of a national financial crimes strat-
egy to combat financial crimes involving money launder-
ing and other related activities, 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.
This Act may be cited as the ‘‘National Financial
Crimes Strategy Act of 1996’’.
SEC. 2. FINANCIAL CRIMES INVOLVING MONEY LAUNDER-
ING AND RELATED CRIMINAL ACTIVITIES.
(a) IN GENERAL.—Title IX of the Financial Institu-
tions Reform, Recovery, and Enforcement Act of 1989 (re-
lating to regulatory enforcement authority and criminal
enhancements) is amended by adding at the end the fol-
lowing new subtitle:
‘‘Subtitle G—National Financial
Crimes Strategy
‘‘SEC. 971. NATIONAL FINANCIAL CRIMES STRATEGY.
‘‘(a) DEVELOPMENT
AND SUBMISSION
TO CON-
GRESS.—
‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—Before the end of the 180-
day period beginning on the date of the enactment
of this subtitle and before February 1 of each subse-
quent year, the President, acting through the Sec-
retary of the Treasury, shall develop a national
strategy for combating financial crimes which shall
be submitted to the Congress.
‘‘(2) SEPARATE PRESENTATION OF CLASSIFIED
MATERIAL.—Any part of the strategy that involves
information which is properly classified under cri-
teria established by Executive order shall be submit-
ted to the Congress separately.
‘‘(b) DEVELOPMENT OF STRATEGY.—The national
strategy for combating financial crimes shall include the
following:
‘‘(1) LONG-RANGE GOALS.—Comprehensive, re-
search-based, long-range goals for reducing financial
crime in the United States.
‘‘(2) SHORT-TERM
OBJECTIVE.—A short-term
objective which the Secretary determines may be re-
alistically achieved by the end of the 2-year period
beginning on the date of transmission of the strat-
egy.
‘‘(3) ALLOCATION OF LAW ENFORCEMENT RE-
SOURCES.—A description of the manner in which
law enforcement resources will be allocated.
‘‘(4) REVIEW
OF
NONFEDERAL
FINANCIAL
CRIME CONTROL ACTIVITIES.—A review of the finan-
cial crime control activities of State and local gov-
ernments and recommendations for sufficient co-
operation between Federal agencies and such State
and local governments to achieve a well-coordinated
and effective policy for fighting financial crimes by
all levels of government.
‘‘(5) ALL
OTHER
GOALS, OBJECTIVES, AND
STRATEGIES.—A complete list of goals, objectives,
and priorities for reducing financial crimes in addi-
tion to the goals and objectives described in para-
graphs (1) and (2).
‘‘(6) PRIVATE SECTOR INITIATIVES; INTERGOV-
ERNMENTAL COOPERATION.—A description of pri-
vate sector initiatives, cooperative efforts between
the Federal Government and State and local govern-
ments, and cooperative efforts among the several
States and between State and local governments for
financial crimes control which could be utilized or
should be encouraged.
‘‘(7) PROJECT AND BUDGET PRIORITIES.—A 3-
year projection for program and budget priorities
and achievable projects for reductions in financial
crimes.
‘‘(8) ASSESSMENT OF FUNDING.—A complete
assessment of how the proposed budget is intended
to implement the strategy and whether the funding
levels contained in the proposed budget are sufficient
to implement the strategy.
‘‘(9) DESIGNATED
AREAS.—A description of
geographical areas designated as ‘high-intensity fi-
nancial crime areas’ in accordance with section 3.
‘‘(10) IMPROVED COMMUNICATIONS SYSTEMS.—
A plan for improving the compatibility of automated
information and information systems to provide the
Federal Government and State and local govern-
ments with timely, accurate, and complete informa-
tion.
‘‘(c) CONSULTATIONS.—In developing the national
strategy for combating financial crimes, the Secretary
shall consult with—
‘‘(1) Department of the Treasury law enforce-
ment organizations;
‘‘(2) the Attorney General and the Director of
the Federal Bureau of Investigation;
‘‘(3) Members of Congress;
‘‘(4) State and local officials, including State
and local prosecutors; and
‘‘(5) private citizens with experience and exper-
tise in the field of financial crimes law enforcement.
‘‘(d) SUBMISSION OF REPORTS BY SECRETARY.—
‘‘(1) REPORT
ON
CONSULTATIONS.—At the
time the President transmits the national strategy
on combating financial crimes, the Secretary shall
submit a report indicating the persons consulted by
the director pursuant to subsection (c).
‘‘(2) EFFECTIVENESS
REPORT.—At the time
each national strategy for combating financial
crimes is transmitted by the President to the Con-
gress (other than the 1st transmission of any such
strategy) pursuant to subsection (a), the Secretary
shall submit a report containing a complete evalua-
tion of the effectiveness of policies to combat finan-
cial crimes.
‘‘SEC. 972. HIGH-INTENSITY FINANCIAL CRIME AREAS.
‘‘(a) DESIGNATION OF AREAS.—The Secretary, in
consultation with the heads of the Department of the
Treasury law enforcement organizations, the Attorney
General, the Director of the Federal Bureau of Investiga-
tion, the Governors of the several States, and other State
and local officials and after taking into consideration the
factors specified in subsection (b), may designate any geo-
graphical area of the United States as a ‘high-intensity
financial crime area’.
‘‘(b) FACTORS.—In considering the designation of
any area as a high-intensity financial crime area, the Sec-
retary shall take into account the following factors:
‘‘(1) The population of the area and the demo-
graphics of the population.