[Congressional Bills 108th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 2074 Introduced in House (IH)]







108th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                H. R. 2074

  To require certain disclosures in connection with any international 
                money transfer, and for other purposes.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                              May 13, 2003

 Mr. Gutierrez (for himself and Mr. Frank of Massachusetts) introduced 
 the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Financial 
                                Services

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
  To require certain disclosures in connection with any international 
                money transfer, 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 ``International Money Transfer 
Disclosure Act''.

SEC. 2. DISCLOSURES REQUIRED.

    (a) Regulations.--
            (1) In general.--Subject to paragraph (2), the appropriate 
        Federal agencies shall jointly prescribe regulations that 
        require any financial institution or money transmitting 
        business which initiates an international money transfer on 
        behalf of a consumer (whether or not the consumer maintains an 
        account at such institution or business) to make a good faith 
        effort to provide the following disclosures to the consumer 
        before the consummation of the transaction:
                    (A) Any fees to be charged to the recipient, 
                including any exchange rate or currency conversion 
                fees.
                    (B) A final itemization of all costs to the 
                consumer, which would include all fees charged, for the 
                remittance.
                    (C) The exact amount of foreign currency to be 
                received by the recipient in the foreign country.
            (2) Good faith effort.--For purposes of paragraph (1), good 
        faith effort requires honesty in fact and all commercially 
        reasonable efforts to provide the disclosures based on the most 
        accurate information reasonably available to the financial 
        institution or money transmitting business at the time of the 
        international money transfer.
    (b) Language Requirement.--The disclosures required under 
subsection (a) shall be in English and in the same language, if other 
than English, as the language principally used by the financial 
institution or money transmitting business, or any of its agents, to 
advertise, solicit, or negotiate, either orally or in writing, at the 
office of the institution or business at which the international money 
transfer is initiated.
    (c) Definitions.--For purposes of this section, the following 
definitions shall apply:
            (1) Appropriate federal agency.--The term ``appropriate 
        Federal agency'' means--
                    (A) the appropriate Federal banking agency, in the 
                case of any insured depository institution (as such 
                terms are defined in section 3 of the Federal Deposit 
                Insurance Act);
                    (B) the National Credit Union Administration, in 
                the case of any credit union (as defined in section 101 
                of the Federal Credit Union Act); and
                    (C) the Federal Trade Commission, in the case of 
                any financial institution or money transmitting 
                business that is not an insured depository institution 
                or insured credit union.
            (2) International money transfer.--The term ``international 
        money transfer'' means any money transmitting service 
        originating in the United States and involving an international 
        transaction which is provided by a financial institution or a 
        money transmitting business.
            (3) Money transmitting service.--The term ``money 
        transmitting service'' has the meaning given to such term in 
        section 5330(d)(2) of title 31, United States Code.
            (4) Money transmitting business.--The term ``money 
        transmitting business'' means any business which--
                    (A) provides check cashing, currency exchange, or 
                money transmitting or remittance services, or issues or 
                redeems money orders, travelers' checks, and other 
                similar instruments; and
                    (B) is not a depository institution (as defined in 
                section 5313(g) of title 31, United States Code).
    (d) Administrative Enforcement.--
                    (1) Depository institutions.--
                    (A) In general.--Compliance with the requirements 
                imposed under this section shall be enforced under--
                            (i) section 8 of the Federal Deposit 
                        Insurance Act, in the case of an insured 
                        depository institution, by the appropriate 
                        Federal banking agency (as such terms are 
                        defined in section 3 of the Federal Deposit 
                        Insurance Act); and
                            (ii) the Federal Credit Union Act, in the 
                        case of any insured credit union (as defined in 
                        section 101 of the Federal Credit Union Act), 
                        by the National Credit Union Administration.
                    (B) Applicability of other laws.--
                            (i) Violations of this section.--For the 
                        purpose of the exercise by any agency referred 
                        to in subparagraph (A) of its powers under any 
                        Act referred to in that subparagraph, a 
                        violation of any requirement imposed under this 
                        section shall be deemed to be a violation of a 
                        requirement imposed under that Act.
                            (ii) Other authority.--In addition to its 
                        powers under any provision of law specifically 
                        referred to in subparagraph (A), each of the 
                        agencies referred to in such subparagraph may 
                        exercise, for the purpose of enforcing 
                        compliance with any requirement imposed under 
                        this section, any other authority conferred on 
                        it by law.
            (2) Other money transmitting businesses.--
                    (A) Appropriate federal regulator.--Except to the 
                extent that enforcement of the requirements imposed 
                under this section is specifically committed to some 
                other Government agency under paragraph (1), the 
                Federal Trade Commission shall enforce such 
                requirements.
                    (B) Applicability of other laws.--
                            (i) Violations of this section.--For the 
                        purpose of the exercise by the Federal Trade 
                        Commission of its functions and powers under 
                        the Federal Trade Commission Act, a violation 
                        of any requirement imposed under this section 
                        shall be deemed a violation of a requirement 
                        imposed under that Act.
                            (ii) Other authority.--All of the functions 
                        and powers of the Federal Trade Commission 
                        under the Federal Trade Commission Act are 
                        available to the Commission to enforce 
                        compliance by any person subject to the 
                        jurisdiction of the Commission with the 
                        requirements imposed under this section, 
                        irrespective of whether that person is engaged 
                        in commerce or meets any other jurisdictional 
                        tests in the Federal Trade Commission Act.
    (e) Effective Date.--This section shall apply to any international 
money transfer initiated in the United States after the end of the 3-
month period beginning on the date of the enactment of this Act.
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