Financial Technology Protection Act
Bill: H.R.296 | Sponsor: Rep. Budd, Ted (R-NC)
Policy area: Finance and Financial Sector

Summary:
Financial Technology Protection Act
This bill provides for the investigation of new financial technologies (e.g., digital currencies) and their use in terrorism and other illicit activities.
Specifically, the bill establishes the Independent Financial Technology Task Force to Combat Terrorism and Illicit Financing, which must research terrorist and illicit use of new financial technologies and issue an annual report.
The Department of the Treasury must establish a fund to provide a reward for a person who provides information leading to the conviction of an individual involved with terrorist use of digital currencies.
Additionally, the bill establishes the FinTech Leadership in Innovation and Financial Intelligence Program to support the development of tools and programs to detect terrorist and illicit use of digital currencies.


To establish an Independent Financial Technology Task Force to Combat 
  Terrorism and Illicit Financing, to provide rewards for information 
leading to convictions related to terrorist use of digital currencies, 
     to establish a Fintech Leadership in Innovation and Financial 
Intelligence Program to encourage the development of tools and programs 
  to combat terrorist and illicit use of digital currencies, and for 
                            other purposes.

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

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

    This Act may be cited as the ``Financial Technology Protection 
Act''.

SEC. 2. SENSE OF CONGRESS.

    It is the sense of Congress that the Federal Government should 
prioritize the investigation of terrorist and illicit use of new 
financial technology, including digital currencies.

SEC. 3. INDEPENDENT FINANCIAL TECHNOLOGY TASK FORCE TO COMBAT TERRORISM 
              AND ILLICIT FINANCING.

    (a) Establishment.--There is established the Independent Financial 
Technology Task Force to Combat Terrorism and Illicit Financing (the 
``Task Force''), which shall consist of--
            (1) the Secretary of the Treasury, who shall serve as the 
        head of the Task Force;
            (2) the Attorney General;
            (3) the Director of National Intelligence;
            (4) the Director of the Financial Crimes Enforcement 
        Network;
            (5) the Director of the Secret Service;
            (6) the Director of the Federal Bureau of Investigation; 
        and
            (7) 6 individuals appointed by the Secretary of the 
        Treasury, in consultation with the members of the Task Force 
        described under paragraphs (2) through (6), to represent the 
        private sector (including the banking industry, nonprofit 
        groups, and think tanks), with at least two of such individuals 
        having experience in the Fintech industry.
    (b) Duties.--The Task Force shall--
            (1) conduct independent research on terrorist and illicit 
        use of new financial technologies, including digital 
        currencies; and
            (2) develop legislative and regulatory proposals to improve 
        counter-terrorist and counter-illicit financing efforts.
    (c) Annual Congressional Report.--Not later than 1 year after the 
date of the enactment of this Act, and annually thereafter, the Task 
Force shall issue a report to the Congress containing the findings and 
determinations made by the Task Force in the previous year and any 
legislative and regulatory proposals developed by the Task Force.

SEC. 4. REWARDS FOR INFORMATION RELATED TO TERRORIST USE OF DIGITAL 
              CURRENCIES.

    (a) In General.--The Secretary of the Treasury, in consultation 
with the Attorney General, shall establish a fund to pay a reward, not 
to exceed $450,000, to any person who provides information leading to 
the conviction of an individual involved with terrorist use of digital 
currencies.
    (b) Use of Fines and Forfeitures.--With respect to fines and 
forfeitures related to the conviction of an individual involved with 
terrorist use of digital currencies, the Secretary of the Treasury 
shall, subject to the availability of appropriations made in advance--
            (1) use such amounts to pay rewards under this section 
        related to such conviction; and
            (2) with respect to any such amounts remaining after 
        payments are made under paragraph (1), deposit such amounts in 
        the Fintech Leadership in Innovation and Financial Intelligence 
        Program.

SEC. 5. FINTECH LEADERSHIP IN INNOVATION AND FINANCIAL INTELLIGENCE 
              PROGRAM.

    (a) Establishment.--There is established a program to be known as 
the ``Fintech Leadership in Innovation and Financial Intelligence 
Program'', which shall be funded as provided under section 4(b)(2).
    (b) Innovation Grants.--
            (1) In general.--The Secretary of the Treasury shall make 
        grants for the development of tools and programs to detect 
        terrorist and illicit use of digital currencies.
            (2) Eligible recipients.--The Secretary may make grants 
        under this subsection to entities located in the United States, 
        including academic institutions, companies, nonprofit 
        institutions, individuals, and any other entities located in 
        the United States that the Secretary determines appropriate.
            (3) Eligible projects.--With respect to tools and programs 
        described under paragraph (1), in addition to grants for the 
        development of such tools and programs, the Secretary may make 
        grants under this subsection to carry out pilot programs using 
        such tools, the development of test cases using such tools, and 
        research related to such tools.
            (4) Preferences.--In making grants under this subsection, 
        the Secretary shall give preference to--
                    (A) technology that is nonproprietary or that is 
                community commons-based;
                    (B) computer code that is developed and released on 
                an open source basis;
                    (C) tools that are proactive (such as meeting 
                regulatory requirements under ``know your customer'' 
                and anti-money laundering requirements for any entity 
                that has to comply with U.S. Government regulations) 
                vs. reactive (such as aiding law enforcement 
                organizations in catching illegal activity after the 
                fact); and
                    (D) tools and incentives that are on decentralized 
                platforms.
            (5) Other requirements.--
                    (A) Use of existing global standards.--Any new 
                technology developed with a grant made under this 
                subsection shall be based on existing global standards, 
                such as those developed by the Internet Engineering 
                Task Force (IETF) and the World Wide Web Consortium 
                (W3C).
                    (B) Supporting existing laws or regulations.--Tools 
                and programs developed with a grant made under this 
                subsection shall be in support of existing laws or 
                regulations, including the Bank Secrecy Act, and make 
                efforts to balance privacy and anti-money laundering 
                concerns.
                    (C) Open access requirement.--Tools and programs 
                developed with a grant made under this subsection shall 
                be freely accessible and usable by the public. This 
                requirement may be fulfilled by publicly availing 
                application programming interfaces or software 
                development kits.

SEC. 6. PREVENTING ROGUE AND FOREIGN ACTORS FROM EVADING SANCTIONS.

    (a) Report and Strategy With Respect to Digital Currencies and 
Other Related Emerging Technologies.--
            (1) In general.--Not later than 180 days after the date of 
        the enactment of this Act, the President, acting through the 
        Secretary of Treasury and in consultation with the Attorney 
        General, the Secretary of State, the Secretary of Homeland 
        Security, the Director of National Intelligence, the Director 
        of the Office of Management and Budget, and the appropriate 
        Federal banking agencies and Federal functional regulators, 
        shall--
                    (A) submit to the appropriate congressional 
                committees a report that identifies and describes the 
                potential uses of digital currencies and other related 
                emerging technologies by states, non-state actors, and 
                foreign terrorist organizations to evade sanctions, 
                finance terrorism, or launder monetary instruments, and 
                threaten United States national security; and
                    (B) develop and submit to the appropriate 
                congressional committees a strategy to mitigate and 
                prevent such illicit use of digital currencies and 
                other related emerging technologies.
            (2) Form; public availability.--
                    (A) Form.--The report and strategy required under 
                paragraph (1) shall be submitted in unclassified form, 
                but may contain a classified annex.
                    (B) Public availability.--The unclassified portion 
                of such report and strategy shall be made available to 
                the public and posted on the internet website of the 
                Department of Treasury--
                            (i) in pre-compressed, easily downloadable 
                        versions that are made available in all 
                        appropriate formats; and
                            (ii) in machine-readable format, if 
                        applicable.
            (3) Sources of information.--In preparing the report and 
        strategy required under paragraph (1), the President may 
        utilize any credible publication, database, web-based resource, 
        and any credible information compiled by any government agency, 
        nongovernmental organization, or other entity that is made 
        available to the President.
    (b) Briefing.--Not later than 2 years after the date of the 
enactment of this Act, the Secretary of the Treasury shall brief the 
appropriate congressional committees on the implementation of the 
strategy required under subsection (a).

SEC. 7. DETERMINATION OF BUDGETARY EFFECTS.

    The budgetary effects of this Act, for the purpose of complying 
with the Statutory Pay-As-You-Go Act of 2010, shall be determined by 
reference to the latest statement titled ``Budgetary Effects of PAYGO 
Legislation'' for this Act, submitted for printing in the Congressional 
Record by the Chairman of the House Budget Committee, provided that 
such statement has been submitted prior to the vote on passage.

SEC. 8. DEFINITIONS.

    For purposes of this Act:
            (1) Appropriate congressional committees.--The term 
        ``appropriate congressional committees'' means--
                    (A) the Committee on Financial Services, the 
                Committee on the Judiciary, the Permanent Select 
                Committee on Intelligence, and the Committee on Foreign 
                Affairs of the House of Representatives; and
                    (B) the Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban 
                Affairs, the Committee on Homeland Security and 
                Governmental Affairs, the Committee on the Judiciary, 
                the Select Committee on Intelligence, and the Committee 
                on Foreign Relations of the Senate.
            (2) Appropriate federal banking agencies.--The term 
        ``appropriate Federal banking agencies'' has the meaning given 
        the term in section 3 of the Federal Deposit Insurance Act (12 
        U.S.C. 1813).
            (3) Bank secrecy act.--The term ``Bank Secrecy Act'' 
        means--
                    (A) section 21 of the Federal Deposit Insurance 
                Act;
                    (B) chapter 2 of title I of Public Law 91-508; and
                    (C) subchapter II of chapter 53 of title 31, United 
                States Code.
            (4) Digital currency.--The term ``digital currency''--
                    (A) means a digital representation of value that--
                            (i) is used as a medium of exchange, unit 
                        of account, or store of value; and
                            (ii) is not established legal tender, 
                        whether or not denominated in established legal 
                        tender; and
                    (B) does not include--
                            (i) a transaction in which a merchant 
                        grants, as part of an affinity or rewards 
                        program, value that cannot be taken from or 
                        exchanged with the merchant for legal tender, 
                        bank credit, or digital currency; or
                            (ii) a digital representation of value 
                        issued by or on behalf of a publisher and used 
                        solely within an online game, game platform, or 
                        family of games sold by the same publisher or 
                        offered on the same game platform.
            (5) Federal functional regulator.--The term ``Federal 
        functional regulator'' has the meaning given that term in 
        section 509 of the Gramm-Leach-Bliley Act (15 U.S.C. 6809).
            (6) Foreign terrorist organization.--The term ``foreign 
        terrorist organization'' means an organization that is 
        designated as a foreign terrorist organization under section 
        219 of the Immigration and Nationality Act (8 U.S.C. 1189).
            (7) Terrorist.--The term ``terrorist'' includes a person 
        carrying out domestic terrorism or international terrorism (as 
        such terms are defined, respectively, under section 2331 of 
        title 18, United States Code).
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