31 U.S.C. § 5313 : US Code - Section 5313: Reports on domestic coins and currency transactions

Search 31 U.S.C. § 5313 : US Code - Section 5313: Reports on domestic coins and currency transactions

(a) When a domestic financial institution is involved in a
transaction for the payment, receipt, or transfer of United States
coins or currency (or other monetary instruments the Secretary of
the Treasury prescribes), in an amount, denomination, or amount and
denomination, or under circumstances the Secretary prescribes by
regulation, the institution and any other participant in the
transaction the Secretary may prescribe shall file a report on the
transaction at the time and in the way the Secretary prescribes. A
participant acting for another person shall make the report as the
agent or bailee of the person and identify the person for whom the
transaction is being made.
(b) The Secretary may designate a domestic financial institution
as an agent of the United States Government to receive a report
under this section. However, the Secretary may designate a domestic
financial institution that is not insured, chartered, examined, or
registered as a domestic financial institution only if the
institution consents. The Secretary may suspend or revoke a
designation for a violation of this subchapter or a regulation
under this subchapter (except a violation of section 5315 of this
title or a regulation prescribed under section 5315), section 411
(!1) of the National Housing Act (12 U.S.C. 1730d), or section 21
of the Federal Deposit Insurance Act (12 U.S.C. 1829b).
(c)(1) A person (except a domestic financial institution
designated under subsection (b) of this section) required to file a
report under this section shall file the report -
(A) with the institution involved in the transaction if the
institution was designated;
(B) in the way the Secretary prescribes when the institution
was not designated; or
(C) with the Secretary.
(2) The Secretary shall prescribe -
(A) the filing procedure for a domestic financial institution
designated under subsection (b) of this section; and
(B) the way the institution shall submit reports filed with it.
(d) Mandatory Exemptions From Reporting Requirements. -
(1) In general. - The Secretary of the Treasury shall exempt,
pursuant to section 5318(a)(6), a depository institution from the
reporting requirements of subsection (a) with respect to
transactions between the depository institution and the following
categories of entities:
(A) Another depository institution.
(B) A department or agency of the United States, any State,
or any political subdivision of any State.
(C) Any entity established under the laws of the United
States, any State, or any political subdivision of any State,
or under an interstate compact between 2 or more States, which
exercises governmental authority on behalf of the United States
or any such State or political subdivision.
(D) Any business or category of business the reports on which
have little or no value for law enforcement purposes.
(2) Notice of exemption. - The Secretary of the Treasury shall
publish in the Federal Register at such times as the Secretary
determines to be appropriate (but not less frequently than once
each year) a list of all the entities whose transactions with a
depository institution are exempt under this subsection from the
reporting requirements of subsection (a).
(e) Discretionary Exemptions From Reporting Requirements. -
(1) In general. - The Secretary of the Treasury may exempt,
pursuant to section 5318(a)(6), a depository institution from the
reporting requirements of subsection (a) with respect to
transactions between the depository institution and a qualified
business customer of the institution on the basis of information
submitted to the Secretary by the institution in accordance with
procedures which the Secretary shall establish.
(2) Qualified business customer defined. - For purposes of this
subsection, the term "qualified business customer" means a
business which -
(A) maintains a transaction account (as defined in section
19(b)(1)(C) of the Federal Reserve Act) at the depository
institution;
(B) frequently engages in transactions with the depository
institution which are subject to the reporting requirements of
subsection (a); and
(C) meets criteria which the Secretary determines are
sufficient to ensure that the purposes of this subchapter are
carried out without requiring a report with respect to such
transactions.
(3) Criteria for exemption. - The Secretary of the Treasury
shall establish, by regulation, the criteria for granting and
maintaining an exemption under paragraph (1).
(4) Guidelines. -
(A) In general. - The Secretary of the Treasury shall
establish guidelines for depository institutions to follow in
selecting customers for an exemption under this subsection.
(B) Contents. - The guidelines may include a description of
the types of businesses or an itemization of specific
businesses for which no exemption will be granted under this
subsection to any depository institution.
(5) Annual review. - The Secretary of the Treasury shall
prescribe regulations requiring each depository institution to -
(A) review, at least once each year, the qualified business
customers of such institution with respect to whom an exemption
has been granted under this subsection; and
(B) upon the completion of such review, resubmit information
about such customers, with such modifications as the
institution determines to be appropriate, to the Secretary for
the Secretary's approval.
(6) 2-year phase-in provision. - During the 2-year period
beginning on the date of enactment of the Money Laundering
Suppression Act of 1994, this subsection shall be applied by the
Secretary on the basis of such criteria as the Secretary
determines to be appropriate to achieve an orderly implementation
of the requirements of this subsection.
(f) Provisions Applicable to Mandatory and Discretionary
Exemptions. -
(1) Limitation on liability of depository institutions. - No
depository institution shall be subject to any penalty which may
be imposed under this subchapter for the failure of the
institution to file a report with respect to a transaction with a
customer for whom an exemption has been granted under subsection
(d) or (e) unless the institution -
(A) knowingly files false or incomplete information to the
Secretary with respect to the transaction or the customer
engaging in the transaction; or
(B) has reason to believe at the time the exemption is
granted or the transaction is entered into that the customer or
the transaction does not meet the criteria established for
granting such exemption.
(2) Coordination with other provisions. - Any exemption granted
by the Secretary of the Treasury under section 5318(a) in
accordance with this section, and any transaction which is
subject to such exemption, shall be subject to any other
provision of law applicable to such exemption, including -
(A) the authority of the Secretary, under section 5318(a)(6),
to revoke such exemption at any time; and
(B) any requirement to report, or any authority to require a
report on, any possible violation of any law or regulation or
any suspected criminal activity.
(g) Depository Institution Defined. - For purposes of this
section, the term "depository institution" -
(1) has the meaning given to such term in section 19(b)(1)(A)
of the Federal Reserve Act; and
(2) includes -
(A) any branch, agency, or commercial lending company (as
such terms are defined in section 1(b) of the International
Banking Act of 1978);
(B) any corporation chartered under section 25A of the
Federal Reserve Act; and
(C) any corporation having an agreement or undertaking with
the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System under
section 25 of the Federal Reserve Act.