[Congressional Bills 113th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 4986 Introduced in House (IH)]

113th CONGRESS
  2d Session
                                H. R. 4986

To amend certain banking statutes in response to Operation Choke Point.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                             June 26, 2014

 Mr. Luetkemeyer introduced the following bill; which was referred to 
                  the Committee on Financial Services

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
To amend certain banking statutes in response to Operation Choke Point.

    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 ``End Operation Choke Point Act of 
2014''.

SEC. 2. BUSINESS ACCESS TO INSURED DEPOSITORY INSTITUTIONS.

    (a) In General.--The Federal Deposit Insurance Act (12 U.S.C. 1811 
et seq.) is amended by adding at the end the following new section:

``SEC. 51. BUSINESS ACCESS TO INSURED DEPOSITORY INSTITUTIONS.

    ``(a) In General.--The Federal banking agencies may not prohibit or 
otherwise restrict or discourage an insured depository institution from 
providing any product or service to an entity that demonstrates to the 
insured depository institution that such entity--
            ``(1) is licensed and authorized to offer such product or 
        service;
            ``(2) is registered as a money transmitting business under 
        section 5330 of title 31, United States Code, or regulations 
        promulgated under such section; or
            ``(3) has a reasoned legal opinion that demonstrates the 
        legality of the entity's business under applicable law.
    ``(b) Rule of Construction.--Nothing in this section shall be 
construed to--
            ``(1) require an insured depository institution--
                    ``(A) to provide any product or service to any 
                particular entity;
                    ``(B) to regularly review the status of any license 
                of an entity; or
                    ``(C) to determine the validity or veracity of any 
                reasoned legal opinion obtained under subsection 
                (a)(3); or
            ``(2) imply or require that an insured depository 
        institution may only provide products or services to an entity 
        that has met any of the requirements of paragraphs (1) through 
        (3) of subsection (a).
    ``(c) Limitation on Rulemaking.--The Federal banking agencies may 
not issue any guidance under subsection (a). Any rule implementing 
subsection (a) shall be promulgated in accordance with section 553 of 
title 5, United States Code.
    ``(d) Reasoned Legal Opinion Defined.--For purposes of this 
section, the term `reasoned legal opinion'--
            ``(1) means a written legal opinion by a State-licensed 
        attorney that addresses the facts of a particular business and 
        the legality of the business's provision of products or 
        services to customers in the relevant jurisdictions under 
        applicable Federal and State law, tribal ordinances, tribal 
        resolutions, and tribal-State compacts; and
            ``(2) does not include a written legal opinion that recites 
        the facts of a particular business and states a conclusion.''.

SEC. 3. BUSINESS ACCESS TO FEDERAL CREDIT UNIONS.

    Title I of the Federal Credit Union Act (12 U.S.C. 1751 et seq.) is 
amended by adding at the end the following new section:

``SEC. 132. BUSINESS ACCESS TO INSURED CREDIT UNIONS.

    ``(a) In General.--The Board may not prohibit or otherwise restrict 
or discourage an insured credit union from providing any product or 
service to an entity that demonstrates to the insured credit union that 
such entity--
            ``(1) is licensed and authorized to offer such product or 
        service;
            ``(2) is registered as a money transmitting business under 
        section 5330 of title 31, United States Code, or regulations 
        promulgated under such section; and
            ``(3) has a reasoned legal opinion that demonstrates the 
        legality of the entity's business under applicable law.
    ``(b) Rule of Construction.--Nothing in this section shall be 
construed to--
            ``(1) require an insured credit union--
                    ``(A) to provide any products or services to any 
                entity;
                    ``(B) to regularly review the status of any license 
                of an entity; or
                    ``(C) to determine the validity or veracity of any 
                reasoned legal opinion obtained under subsection 
                (a)(3); or
            ``(2) imply or require that an insured credit union may 
        only provide products or services to an entity that has met any 
        of the requirements of paragraphs (1) through (3) of subsection 
        (a).
    ``(c) Limitation on Rulemaking.--The Board may not issue any 
guidance under subsection (a). Any rule implementing subsection (a) 
shall be promulgated in accordance with section 553 of title 5, United 
States Code.
    ``(d) Reasoned Legal Opinion Defined.--For purposes of this 
section, the term `reasoned legal opinion'--
            ``(1) means a written legal opinion by a State-licensed 
        attorney that addresses the facts of a particular business and 
        the legality of the business's provision of products or 
        services to customers in the relevant jurisdictions under 
        applicable Federal and State law, tribal ordinances, tribal 
        resolutions, and tribal-State compacts; and
            ``(2) does not include a written legal opinion that recites 
        the facts of a particular business and states a conclusion.''.

SEC. 4. AMENDMENTS TO THE FINANCIAL INSTITUTIONS REFORM, RECOVERY, AND 
              ENFORCEMENT ACT OF 1989.

    Section 951 of the Financial Institutions Reform, Recovery, and 
Enforcement Act of 1989 (12 U.S.C. 1833a) is amended--
            (1) in subsection (c)(2), by inserting ``and where such 
        violation or conspiracy to violate is in connection with a 
        violation or conspiracy to violate a section described under 
        paragraph (1)'' after ``financial institution''; and
            (2) in subsection (g)--
                    (A) in the header, by striking ``Subpoenas'' and 
                inserting ``Investigations'';
                    (B) in paragraph (1), by amending subparagraph (C) 
                to read as follows:
                    ``(C) request a court order from a court of 
                competent jurisdiction, to summon witnesses and to 
                require the production of any books, papers, 
                correspondence, memoranda, or other records which the 
                Attorney General deems relevant or material to the 
                inquiry, and which shall be issued only if the Attorney 
                General offers specific and articulable facts showing 
                that there are reasonable grounds to believe that the 
                information or testimony sought is relevant and 
                material to an ongoing civil proceeding under this 
                section.'';
                    (C) by amending paragraph (2) to read as follows:
            ``(2) Annual report to congress on firrea court orders.--
        The Attorney General shall submit a report before January 31 of 
        each year, beginning the first January following the date of 
        enactment of this Act, to the Committee on Financial Services 
        of the House of Representatives and the Committee on Banking, 
        Housing, and Urban Affairs of the Senate, which shall include a 
        detailed description of--
                    ``(A) the number of court orders sought by the 
                Attorney General and the number of orders issued;
                    ``(B) the recipient of the court orders;
                    ``(C) the number of documents requested and 
                received;
                    ``(D) the number of witnesses requested to testify 
                and the number who actually testified; and
                    ``(E) whether a civil enforcement action was filed 
                and the result of any such enforcement action, 
                including settlements that led to the dismissal of 
                charges.''; and
                    (D) by striking paragraph (3).

SEC. 5. REQUIRING COOPERATION TO DETER THE COMMISSION OF FINANCIAL 
              FRAUD.

    Subsection (a) of section 314 of the USA PATRIOT Act (31 U.S.C. 
5311 note) is amended--
            (1) in paragraph (1), by inserting ``, the commission of 
        financial fraud,'' after ``terrorist acts'';
            (2) in paragraph (2)--
                    (A) in subparagraph (B), by striking ``; and'' and 
                inserting a semicolon;
                    (B) in subparagraph (C), by striking the period at 
                the end and inserting ``; and''; and
                    (C) by adding at the end the following new 
                subparagraph:
                    ``(D) means of facilitating the identification of 
                accounts and transactions involving persons engaged in 
                committing financial fraud, subject to the limitations 
                described in paragraph (5).''; and
            (3) in paragraph (5), by striking ``shall not be used'' and 
        all that follows through the period at the end and inserting 
        the following: ``shall not--
                    ``(A) be used for any purpose other than 
                identifying and reporting on activities that may 
                involve terrorist acts, financial fraud, or money 
                laundering; and
                    ``(B) be construed to require financial 
                institutions to determine or assure compliance of any 
                entity with any Federal, State, or other licensing 
                requirements.''.

SEC. 6. LIABILITY FOR DISCLOSURES IN REPORTING SUSPICIOUS TRANSACTIONS.

    Paragraph (3) of section 5318(g) of title 31, United States Code, 
is amended--
            (1) in subparagraph (A), by inserting ``, for any 
        underlying activity that is the subject of the disclosure,'' 
        after ``for such disclosure''; and
            (2) in subparagraph (B)(ii), by striking ``civil or'' 
        before ``criminal''.

SEC. 7. FINANCIAL CRIMES ENFORCEMENT NETWORK DATA ACCOUNTABILITY 
              METRICS.

    Section 310 of title 31, United States Code, is amended--
            (1) in subsection (b)(2)(C)--
                    (A) in clause (vi), by striking ``; and'' and 
                inserting a semicolon;
                    (B) in clause (vii), by striking the period at the 
                end and inserting ``; and''; and
                    (C) by adding at the end the following new clause:
                            ``(viii) generate feedback and report on 
                        the utility of the data access service 
                        described in subparagraph (B) and the 
                        information collected by the service to improve 
                        cooperation among data providers and users 
                        while reducing regulatory burden and preserving 
                        payment system efficiency.'';
            (2) in subsection (c)--
                    (A) in paragraph (1)(C), by striking ``; and'' and 
                inserting a semicolon;
                    (B) in paragraph (2)(C), by striking the period at 
                the end and inserting ``; and''; and
                    (C) by adding at the end the following new 
                paragraph:
            ``(3) for appropriate metrics to monitor, track, assess, 
        and report on access to information contained in the data 
        maintenance system maintained by FinCEN for--
                    ``(A) identifying, tracking, and measuring how such 
                information is used and the law enforcement results 
                obtained as a consequence of that use; and
                    ``(B) assuring accountability by law enforcement 
                agencies for the utility, security, and privacy of such 
                information while reducing unnecessary regulatory 
                burdens.''.
                                 <all>