Money services businesses are subject to the reporting requirements set forth and cross referenced in this subpart. Money services businesses should also refer to subpart C of part 1010 of this chapter for reporting requirements contained in that subpart which apply to money services businesses.

The reports of transactions in currency requirements for money services businesses are located in subpart C of part 1010 of this chapter and this subpart.

Refer to § 1010.311 of this chapter for reports of transactions in currency filing obligations for money services businesses.

Refer to § 1010.312 of this chapter for identification requirements for reports of transactions in currency filed by money services businesses.

Refer to § 1010.313 of this chapter for reports of transactions in currency aggregation requirements for money services businesses.

Refer to § 1010.314 of this chapter for rules regarding structured transactions for money services businesses.

Refer to § 1010.315 of this chapter for exemptions from the obligation to file reports of transactions in currency for money services businesses.

(a) General. (1) Every money services business described in § 1010.100(ff)(1), (3), (4), (5), (6), and (7) of this chapter, shall file with the Treasury Department, to the extent and in the manner required by this section, a report of any suspicious transaction relevant to a possible violation of law or regulation. Any money services business may also file with the Treasury Department, by using the form specified in paragraph (b)(1) of this section, or otherwise, a report of any suspicious transaction that it believes is relevant to the possible violation of any law or regulation but whose reporting is not required by this section.

(2) A transaction requires reporting under the terms of this section if it is conducted or attempted by, at, or through a money services business, involves or aggregates funds or other assets of at least $2,000 (except as provided in paragraph (a)(3) of this section), and the money services business knows, suspects, or has reason to suspect that the transaction (or a pattern of transactions of which the transaction is a part):

(i) Involves funds derived from illegal activity or is intended or conducted in order to hide or disguise funds or assets derived from illegal activity (including, without limitation, the ownership, nature, source, location, or control of such funds or assets) as part of a plan to violate or evade any Federal law or regulation or to avoid any transaction reporting requirement under Federal law or regulation;

(ii) Is designed, whether through structuring or other means, to evade any requirements of this chapter or of any other regulations promulgated under the Bank Secrecy Act; or

(iii) Serves no business or apparent lawful purpose, and the reporting money services business knows of no reasonable explanation for the transaction after examining the available facts, including the background and possible purpose of the transaction.

(iv) Involves use of the money services business to facilitate criminal activity.

(3) To the extent that the identification of transactions required to be reported is derived from a review of clearance records or other similar records of money orders or traveler's checks that have been sold or processed, an issuer of money orders or traveler's checks shall only be required to report a transaction or pattern of transactions that involves or aggregates funds or other assets of at least $5,000.

(4) The obligation to identify and properly and timely to report a suspicious transaction rests with each money services business involved in the transaction, provided that no more than one report is required to be filed by the money services businesses involved in a particular transaction (so long as the report filed contains all relevant facts). Whether, in addition to any liability on its own for failure to report, a money services business that issues the instrument or provides the funds transfer service involved in the transaction may be liable for the failure of another money services business involved in the transaction to report that transaction depends upon the nature of the contractual or other relationship between the businesses, and the legal effect of the facts and circumstances of the relationship and transaction involved, under general principles of the law of agency.

(b) Filing procedures—(1) What to file. A suspicious transaction shall be reported by completing a Suspicious Activity Report(“SAR”), and collecting and maintaining supporting documentation as required by paragraph (c) of this section.

(2) Where to file. The SAR shall be filed in a central location to be determined by FinCEN, as indicated in the instructions to the SAR.

(3) When to file. A money services business subject to this section is required to file each SAR no later than 30 calendar days after the date of the initial detection by the money services business of facts that may constitute a basis for filing a SAR under this section. In situations involving violations that require immediate attention, such as ongoing money laundering schemes, the money services business shall immediately notify by telephone an appropriate law enforcement authority in addition to filing a SAR. Money services businesses wishing voluntarily to report suspicious transactions that may relate to terrorist activity may call FinCEN's Financial Institutions Hotline at 1-866-556-3974 in addition to filing timely a SAR if required by this section.

(c) Retention of records. A money services business shall maintain a copy of any SAR filed and the original or business record equivalent of any supporting documentation for a period of five years from the date of filing the SAR. Supporting documentation shall be identified as such and maintained by the money services business, and shall be deemed to have been filed with the SAR. A money services business shall make all supporting documentation available to FinCEN or any Federal, State, or local law enforcement agency, or any Federal regulatory authority that examines the money services business for compliance with the Bank Secrecy Act, or any State regulatory authority administering a State law that requires the money services business to comply with the Bank Secrecy Act or otherwise authorizes the State authority to ensure that the money services business complies with the Bank Secrecy Act.

(d) Confidentiality of SARs. A SAR, and any information that would reveal the existence of a SAR, are confidential and shall not be disclosed except as authorized in this paragraph (d). For purposes of this paragraph (d) only, a SAR shall include any suspicious activity report filed with FinCEN pursuant to any regulation in this chapter.

(1) Prohibition on disclosures by money services businesses—(i) General rule. No money services business, and no director, officer, employee, or agent of any money services business, shall disclose a SAR or any information that would reveal the existence of a SAR. Any money services business, and any director, officer, employee, or agent of any money services business that is subpoenaed or otherwise requested to disclose a SAR or any information that would reveal the existence of a SAR, shall decline to produce the SAR or such information, citing this section and 31 U.S.C. 5318(g)(2)(A)(i), and shall notify FinCEN of any such request and the response thereto.

(ii) Rules of Construction. Provided that no person involved in any reported suspicious transaction is notified that the transaction has been reported, this paragraph (d)(1) shall not be construed as prohibiting:

(A) The disclosure by a money services business, or any director, officer, employee, or agent of a money services business, of:

(1) A SAR, or any information that would reveal the existence of a SAR, to FinCEN or any Federal, State, or local law enforcement agency, or any Federal regulatory authority that examines the money services business for compliance with the Bank Secrecy Act, or any State regulatory authority administering a State law that requires the money services business to comply with the Bank Secrecy Act or otherwise authorizes the State authority to ensure that the money services business complies with the Bank Secrecy Act; or

(2) The underlying facts, transactions, and documents upon which a SAR is based, including but not limited to, disclosures to another financial institution, or any director, officer, employee, or agent of a financial institution, for the preparation of a joint SAR.

(B) The sharing by a money services business, or any director, officer, employee, or agent of the money services business, of a SAR, or any information that would reveal the existence of a SAR, within the money services business's corporate organizational structure for purposes consistent with Title II of the Bank Secrecy Act as determined by regulation or in guidance.

(2) Prohibition on disclosures by government authorities. A Federal, State, local, territorial, or Tribal government authority, or any director, officer, employee, or agent of any of the foregoing, shall not disclose a SAR, or any information that would reveal the existence of a SAR, except as necessary to fulfill official duties consistent with Title II of the Bank Secrecy Act. For purposes of this section, “official duties” shall not include the disclosure of a SAR, or any information that would reveal the existence of a SAR, in response to a request for disclosure of non-public information or a request for use in a private legal proceeding, including a request pursuant to 31 CFR 1.11.

(e) Limitation on liability. A money services business, and any director, officer, employee, or agent of any money services business, that makes a voluntary disclosure of any possible violation of law or regulation to a government agency or makes a disclosure pursuant to this section or any other authority, including a disclosure made jointly with another institution, shall be protected from liability to any person for any such disclosure, or for failure to provide notice of such disclosure to any person identified in the disclosure, or both, to the full extent provided by 31 U.S.C. 5318(g)(3).

(f) Compliance. Money services businesses shall be examined by FinCEN or its delegatees for compliance with this section. Failure to satisfy the requirements of this section may be a violation of the Bank Secrecy Act and of this chapter.

(g) Applicability date. This section applies to transactions occurring after December 31, 2001.

(a) Registration requirement—(1) In general. Except as provided in paragraph (a)(3) of this section, relating to agents, and except for sellers of prepaid access as defined in § 1010.100(ff)(7) of this chapter to the extent that they are not already agents, each money services business (whether or not licensed as a money services business by any State) must register with FinCEN. Each provider of prepaid access must identify each prepaid program for which it is the provider of prepaid access. Each money services business must, as part of its registration, maintain a list of its agents as required by 31 U.S.C. 5330 and this section. This section does not apply to the United States Postal Service, to agencies of the United States, of any State, or of any political subdivision of a State.

(2) Foreign-located money services business. Each foreign-located person doing business, whether or not on a regular basis or as an organized or licensed business concern, in the United States as a money services business shall designate the name and address of a person who resides in the United States and is authorized, and has agreed, to be an agent to accept service of legal process with respect to compliance with this chapter, and shall identify the address of the location within the United States for records pertaining to paragraph (b)(1)(iii) of this section.

(3) Agents. A person that is a money services business solely because that person serves as an agent of another money services business, see § 1010.100(ff) of this chapter, is not required to register under this section, but a money services business that engages in activities described in § 1010.100(ff) of this chapter both on its own behalf and as an agent for others must register under this section. For example, a supermarket corporation that acts as an agent for an issuer of money orders and performs no other services of a nature and value that would cause the corporation to be a money services business, is not required to register; the answer would be the same if the supermarket corporation served as an agent both of a money order issuer and of a money transmitter. However, registration would be required if the supermarket corporation, in addition to acting as an agent of an issuer of money orders, cashed checks or exchanged currencies (other than as an agent for another business) in an amount greater than $1,000 in currency or monetary or other instruments for any person on any day, in one or more transactions.

(4) Agency status. The determination whether a person is an agent depends on all the facts and circumstances.

(b) Registration procedures—(1) In general. (i) A money services business must be registered by filing such form as FinCEN may specify with FinCEN (or such other location as the form may specify). The information required by 31 U.S.C. 5330(b) and any other information required by the form must be reported in the manner and to the extent required by the form.

(ii) A branch office of a money services business is not required to file its own registration form. A money services business must, however, report information about its branch locations or offices as provided by the instructions to the registration form.

(iii) A money services business must retain a copy of any registration form filed under this section and any registration number that may be assigned to the business at a location in the United States and for the period specified in § 1010.430(d) of this Chapter.

(2) Registration period. A money services business must be registered for the initial registration period and each renewal period. The initial registration period is the two-calendar-year period beginning with the calendar year in which the money services business is first required to be registered. However, the initial registration period for a money services business required to register by December 31, 2001 (see paragraph (b)(3) of this section) is the two-calendar year period beginning 2002. Each two-calendar-year period following the initial registration period is a renewal period.

(3) Due date. The registration form for the initial registration period must be filed on or before the end of the 180-day period beginning on the day following the date the business is established. The registration form for a renewal period must be filed on or before the last day of the calendar year preceding the renewal period.

(4) Events requiring re-registration. If a money services business registered as such under the laws of any State experiences a change in ownership or control that requires the business to be re-registered under State law, the money services business must also be re-registered under this section. In addition, if there is a transfer of more than 10 percent of the voting power or equity interests of a money services business (other than a money services business that must report such transfer to the Securities and Exchange Commission), the money services business must be re-registered under this section. Finally, if a money services business experiences a more than 50-per cent increase in the number of its agents during any registration period, the money services business must be re-registered under this section. The registration form must be filed not later than 180 days after such change in ownership, transfer of voting power or equity interests, or increase in agents. The calendar year in which the change, transfer, or increase occurs is treated as the first year of a new two-year registration period.

(c) Persons required to file the registration form. Under 31 U.S.C. 5330(a), any person who owns or controls a money services business is responsible for registering the business; however, only one registration form is required to be filed for each registration period. A person is treated as owning or controlling a money services business for purposes of filing the registration form only to the extent provided by the form. If more than one person owns or controls a money services business, the owning or controlling persons may enter into an agreement designating one of them to register the business. The failure of the designated person to register the money services business does not, however, relieve any of the other persons who own or control the business of liability for the failure to register the business. See paragraph (e) of this section, relating to consequences of the failure to comply with 31 U.S.C. 5330 or this section.

(d) List of agents—(1) In general. A money services business must prepare and maintain a list of its agents. The initial list of agents must be prepared by January 1, 2002, and must be revised each January 1, for the immediately preceding 12 month period; for money services businesses established after December 31, 2001, the initial agent list must be prepared by the due date of the initial registration form and must be revised each January 1 for the immediately preceding 12-month period. The list is not filed with the registration form but must be maintained at the location in the United States reported on the registration form under paragraph (b)(1) of this section. Upon request, a money services business must make its list of agents available to FinCEN and any other appropriate law enforcement agency (including, without limitation, the examination function of the Internal Revenue Service in its capacity as delegee of Bank Secrecy Act examination authority). Requests for information made pursuant to the preceding sentence shall be coordinated through FinCEN in the manner and to the extent determined by FinCEN. The original list of agents and any revised list must be retained for the period specified in § 1010.430(d) of this chapter.

(2) Information included on the list of agents—(i) In general. Except as provided in paragraph (d)(2)(ii) of this section, a money services business must include the following information with respect to each agent on the list (including any revised list) of its agents—

(A) The name of the agent, including any trade names or doing-business-as names;

(B) The address of the agent, including street address, city, state, and ZIP code;

(C) The telephone number of the agent;

(D) The type of service or services (money orders, traveler's checks, check sales, check cashing, currency exchange, and money transmitting) the agent provides;

(E) A listing of the months in the 12 months immediately preceding the date of the most recent agent list in which the gross transaction amount of the agent with respect to financial products or services issued by the money services business maintaining the agent list exceeded $100,000. For this purpose, the money services gross transaction amount is the agent's gross amount (excluding fees and commissions) received from transactions of one or more businesses described in § 1010.100(ff) of this chapter;

(F) The name and address of any depository institution at which the agent maintains a transaction account (as defined in 12 U.S.C. 461(b)(1)(C)) for all or part of the funds received in or for the financial products or services issued by the money services business maintaining the list, whether in the agent's or the business principal's name;

(G) The year in which the agent first became an agent of the money services business; and

(H) The number of branches or subagents the agent has.

(ii) Special rules. Information about agent volume must be current within 45 days of the due date of the agent list. The information described by paragraphs (d)(2)(i)(G) and (d)(2)(i)(H) of this section is not required to be included in an agent list with respect to any person that is an agent of the money services business maintaining the list before the first day of the month beginning after February 16, 2000 so long as the information described by paragraphs (d)(2)(i)(G) and (d)(2)(i)(H) of this section is made available upon the request of FinCEN and any other appropriate law enforcement agency (including, without limitation, the examination function of the Internal Revenue Service in its capacity as delegee of Bank Secrecy Act examination authority).

(e) Consequences of failing to comply with 31 U.S.C. 5330 or the regulations thereunder. It is unlawful to do business without complying with 31 U.S.C. 5330 and this section. A failure to comply with the requirements of 31 U.S.C. 5330 or this section includes the filing of false or materially incomplete information in connection with the registration of a money services business. Any person who fails to comply with any requirement of 31 U.S.C. 5330 or this section shall be liable for a civil penalty of $5,000 for each violation. Each day a violation of 31 U.S.C. 5330 or this section continues constitutes a separate violation. In addition, under 31 U.S.C. 5320, the Secretary of the Treasury may bring a civil action to enjoin the violation. See 18 U.S.C. 1960 for a criminal penalty for failure to comply with the registration requirements of 31 U.S.C. 5330 or this section.

(f) Applicability date. This section is applicable as of September 20, 1999. Registration of money services businesses under this section will not be required prior to December 31, 2001.