FinCEN Oversight and Accountability Act of 2025

Bill: 119-hr-147
Sponsor: full_name: Rep. Davidson, Warren [R-OH-8]
Introduced: 2025-01-03
Policy area: Finance and Financial Sector
Subjects: Congressional oversight

Congressional-executive branch relations

Fraud offenses and financial crimes

Government ethics and transparency, public corruption

Government information and archives

Government studies and investigations
Latest action: action_date: 2025-01-03
text: Referred to the House Committee on Financial Services.

Summaries:
action_date: 2025-01-03
action_desc: Introduced in House
text: <p><strong>FinCEN Oversight and Accountability Act of 2025</strong></p><p>This bill requires the Department of the Treasury to keep specified congressional committees informed of the activity of the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN), particularly regarding unlawful activity and any resulting corrective action.</p><p>Further, Treasury must disclose to Congress and to the public (with some exclusions) all controlling documents delegating authority to or providing direction to FinCEN. Such disclosure includes any controlling documents in force upon enactment, any controlling documents issued thereafter, and any changes to controlling documents.</p><p>The bill extends for an additional five years the time period during which Treasury must testify before Congress regarding FinCEN’s anti-money laundering programs.</p><p>FinCEN must also hold an annual small business working group to provide guidance on beneficial ownership reporting obligations.&nbsp;</p>

tv_txt: I 119th CONGRESS 1st Session H. R. 147 IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES January 3, 2025 Mr. Davidson introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Financial Services A BILL To make improvements to the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network, and for other purposes.

1. Short title; table of contents (a) Short title This Act may be cited as the FinCEN Oversight and Accountability Act of 2025 . (b) Table of contents The table of contents for this Act is as follows: Sec. 1. Short title; table of contents. Title I—Congressional Oversight Sec. 101. Information for constitutional functions of Congress. Title II—FinCEN Accountability Sec. 201. Transparency with controlling documents. Sec. 202. Testimony by the Director of FinCEN. Title III—Small Business Working Group Sec. 301. Small Business Working Groups. I Congressional Oversight 101. Information for constitutional functions of Congress (a) Keeping Congress informed The Secretary of the Treasury shall keep the Committee on Financial Services of the House of Representatives and the Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs of the Senate fully and currently informed of the activities of the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network, including any significant anticipated activity of such Network. (b) Report of unlawful activity and corrective action The Secretary of the Treasury shall report promptly to the Committee on Financial Services of the House of Representatives and the Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs of the Senate any unlawful activity of the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network and any corrective action taken or planned to address that activity and prevent such activity in the future. II FinCEN Accountability 201. Transparency with controlling documents (a) Definition of controlling document As used in this section, the term controlling document refers to any record (as defined in section 3301 of title 44, United States Code) issued by or under the authority of the Secretary, Deputy Secretary, Under Secretary for Enforcement, or any other officer or employee of the Department of the Treasury, that delegates authority to the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network or its Director in the implementation of section 310 of title 31, United States Code, or the Bank Secrecy Act. (b) Disclosure to Congress The Secretary of the Treasury shall promptly provide to the Committee on Financial Services of the House of Representatives and the Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs of the Senate— (1) controlling documents in force as of the date of the enactment of this Act; (2) any controlling documents issued thereafter; and (3) any changes to controlling documents described in paragraphs (1) and (2) made thereafter, including any revocations thereof. (c) Disclosure to the public The Secretary of the Treasury shall make available promptly to the public the controlling documents and changes that the Secretary is required to provide to the committees listed in subsection (b), excluding such reasonably segregable portions of controlling documents or changes as would fall within an exemption in section 552(b) of title 5, United States Code. (d) Bank Secrecy Act defined In this section, the term Bank Secrecy Act means— (1) section 21 of the Federal Deposit Insurance Act ( 12 U.S.C. 1829b ); (2) chapter 2 of title I of Public Law 91–508 ( 12 U.S.C. 1951 et seq. ); and (3) subchapter II of chapter 53 of title 31, United States Code. 202. Testimony by the Director of FinCEN Section 5336(c)(11)(A) of title 31, United States Code, is amended by striking 5 years and inserting 10 years . III Small Business Working Group 301. Small Business Working Groups (a) In general Section 310(g)(5)(A) of title 31, United States Code, is amended— (1) in clause (vi) by striking and at the end; (2) in clause (vii) by striking the period at the end and inserting ; and ; and (3) by inserting the following at the end: (viii) each year, hold a small business working group to— (I) share information about the effectiveness of beneficial ownership information; (II) promote coordination between FinCEN and the small business community; and (III) provide guidance to small businesses about beneficial ownership reporting obligations. . (b) Appropriations No amounts may be appropriated to carry out the amendments made by subsection (a).