Special Measures to Fight Modern Threats Act
This bill expands the special measures available to the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN) to combat money laundering regarding
Specifically, FinCEN may prohibit or impose conditions upon the opening or maintaining in the United States of a correspondent account or payable-through account by any domestic financial institution or domestic financial agency without requiring, as under current law, that such account be for or on behalf of a foreign banking institution.
Further, FinCEN may prohibit or impose conditions upon certain transmittals of funds to or from any domestic financial institution or domestic financial agency if such transmittal of funds involves any such jurisdiction, institution, class of transaction, or type of account.
[Congressional Bills 117th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 7128 Introduced in House (IH)]
<DOC>
117th CONGRESS
2d Session
H. R. 7128
To amend title 31, United States Code, to authorize the Secretary of
the Treasury to place prohibitions or conditions on certain
transmittals of funds in connection with jurisdictions, financial
institutions, international transactions, or types of accounts of
primary money laundering concern.
_______________________________________________________________________
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
March 17, 2022
Mr. Himes introduced the following bill; which was referred to the
Committee on Financial Services
_______________________________________________________________________
A BILL
To amend title 31, United States Code, to authorize the Secretary of
the Treasury to place prohibitions or conditions on certain
transmittals of funds in connection with jurisdictions, financial
institutions, international transactions, or types of accounts of
primary money laundering concern.
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 ``Special Measures to Fight Modern
Threats Act''.
SEC. 2. FINDINGS.
Congress finds the following:
(1) The Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN) is
the Financial Intelligence Unit of the United States tasked
with safeguarding the financial system from illicit use,
combating money laundering and its related crimes including
terrorism, and promoting national security.
(2) Per statute, FinCEN may require domestic financial
institutions and financial agencies to take certain ``special
measures'' against jurisdictions, institutions, classes of
transactions, or types of accounts determined to be of primary
money laundering concern, providing the Secretary with a range
of options, such as enhanced record-keeping, that can be
adapted to target specific money laundering and terrorist
financing and to bring pressure on those that pose money
laundering threats.
(3) This special-measures authority was granted in 2001,
when most cross-border transactions occurred through
correspondent or payable-through accounts held with large
financial institutions which serve as intermediaries to
facilitate financial transactions on behalf of other banks.
(4) Innovations in financial services have transformed and
expanded methods of cross-border transactions that could not
have been envisioned 20 years ago when FinCEN was given its
special-measures authority.
(5) These innovations, particularly through digital assets
and informal value transfer systems, while useful to legitimate
consumers and law enforcement, can be tools abused by bad
actors like sanctions evaders, fraudsters, money launderers,
and those who commit ransomware attacks on victimized U.S.
companies and which abuse the financial system to move and
obscure the proceeds of their crimes.
(6) Ransomware attacks on U.S. companies requiring payments
in cryptocurrencies have increased in recent years, with the
U.S. Treasury estimating that ransomware payments in the United
States reached $590 million in just the first half of 2021,
compared to a total of $416 million in 2020.
(7) In July 2021, the White House, with support of U.S.
allies, asserted that the People's Republic of China was
responsible for ransomware operations against private companies
that included demands of millions of dollars, including the
2021 ransomware attacks that breached Microsoft email systems
and affected thousands of consumers, State and local
municipalities, and government contractors attributed to a
cyber espionage group with links to the Chinese Ministry of
State Security.
(8) As ransomware attacks organized by Chinese and other
foreign bad actors continue to grow in size and scope,
modernizing FinCEN's special measure authorities will empower
FinCEN to adapt its existing tools, monitor and obstruct global
financial threats, and meet the challenges of combating 21st
century financial crime.
SEC. 3. PROHIBITIONS OR CONDITIONS ON CERTAIN TRANSMITTALS OF FUNDS.
Section 5318A of title 31, United States Code, is amended--
(1) in subsection (a)(2)(C), by striking ``subsection
(b)(5)'' and inserting ``paragraphs (5) and (6) of subsection
(b)''; and
(2) in subsection (b)--
(A) in paragraph (5), by striking ``for or on
behalf of a foreign banking institution''; and
(B) by adding at the end the following:
``(6) Prohibitions or conditions on certain transmittals of
funds.--If the Secretary finds a jurisdiction outside of the
United States, 1 or more financial institutions operating
outside of the United States, 1 or more types of accounts
within, or involving, a jurisdiction outside of the United
States, or 1 or more classes of transactions within, or
involving, a jurisdiction outside of the United States to be of
primary money laundering concern, the Secretary, in
consultation with the Secretary of State, the Attorney General,
and the Chairman of the Board of Governors of the Federal
Reserve System, may prohibit, or impose conditions upon certain
transmittals of funds (as such term may be defined by the
Secretary in a special measure issuance, by regulation, or as
otherwise permitted by law), to or from any domestic financial
institution or domestic financial agency if such transmittal of
funds involves any such jurisdiction, institution, type of
account, or class of transaction.''.
<all>
Introduced in House
Introduced in House
Referred to the House Committee on Financial Services.
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