[Congressional Record Volume 153, Number 13 (Tuesday, January 23, 2007)]
[House]
[Pages H848-H851]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
SEASONED CUSTOMER CTR EXEMPTION ACT OF 2007
Mr. FRANK of Massachusetts. Madam Speaker, I move to suspend the
rules and pass the bill (H.R. 323) to amend section 5313 of title 31,
United States Code, to reform certain requirements for reporting cash
transactions, and for other purposes.
The Clerk read as follows:
H.R. 323
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 ``Seasoned Customer CTR
Exemption Act of 2007''.
SEC. 2. EXCEPTION FROM CURRENCY TRANSACTION REPORTS FOR
SEASONED CUSTOMERS.
(a) Findings.--The Congress finds as follows:
(1) The completion of and filing of currency transaction
reports under section 5313 of title 31, United States Code,
poses a compliance burden on the financial industry.
(2) Due to the nature of the transactions or the persons
and entities conducting such transactions, some reports as
currently filed may not be relevant to the detection,
deterrence, or investigation of financial crimes, including
money laundering and the financing of terrorism.
(3) However, the data contained in such reports can provide
valuable context for the analysis of other data derived
pursuant to subchapter II of chapter 53 of title 31, United
States Code, as well as investigative data, which provide
invaluable and indispensable information supporting efforts
to combat money laundering and other financial crimes.
(4) An appropriate exemption process from the reporting
requirements for certain currency transactions that are of
little or no value to ongoing efforts of law enforcement
agencies, financial regulatory agencies, and the financial
services industry to investigate, detect, or deter financial
crimes would continue to fulfill the compelling need to
produce and provide meaningful information to policy-makers,
financial regulators, law enforcement, and intelligence
agencies, while potentially lowering the compliance burden
placed on financial institutions by the need to file such
reports.
(5) The Secretary of the Treasury has by regulation, and in
accordance with section 5313 of title 31, United States Code,
implemented a process by which institutions may seek
exemptions from filing certain currency transaction reports
based on appropriate circumstances; however, the financial
industry has not taken full advantage of these provisions and
has contended that they are unduly burdensome.
(6) The act of providing notice to the Secretary of the
Treasury of designations of exemption--
(A) provides meaningful information to law enforcement
officials on exempt customers and enables law enforcement to
obtain account information through appropriate legal process;
and
(B) complements other sections of title 31, United States
Code, whereby law enforcement can locate financial
institutions with relevant records relating to a person of
investigative interest, such as information requests made
pursuant to regulations implementing section 314(a) of the
USA PATRIOT Act of 2001.
(7) A designation of exemption has no effect on
requirements for depository institutions to apply the full
range of anti-money laundering controls required under
subchapter II of chapter 53 of title 31, United States Code,
and related provisions of law, including the requirement to
apply the customer identification program pursuant to section
5326 of such title, and the requirement to identify, monitor,
and, if appropriate, report suspicious activity in accordance
with section 5318(g) of such title.
(8) The Federal banking agencies and the Financial Crimes
Enforcement Network have recently provided guidance through
the Federal Financial Institutions Examination Council Bank
Secrecy Act/Anti-Money Laundering Examination Manual on
applying appropriate levels of due diligence and identifying
suspicious activity by the types of cash-intensive businesses
that generally will be subject to exemption.
(b) Seasoned Customer Exemption.--Section 5313(e) of title
31, United States Code, is amended to read as follows:
``(e) Qualified Customer Exemption.--
``(1) In general.--Before the end of the 270-day period
beginning on the date of the enactment of the Seasoned
Customer CTR Exemption Act of 2007, the Secretary of the
Treasury shall prescribe regulations that exempt any
depository institution from filing a report pursuant to this
section 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) with a qualified customer of the depository
institution.
``(2) Qualified customer defined.--For purposes of this
section, the term `qualified customer', with respect to a
depository institution, has such meaning as the Secretary of
the Treasury shall prescribe, which shall include any person
that--
``(A) is incorporated or organized under the laws of the
United States or any State, including a sole proprietorship
(as defined in 31 C.F.R. 103.22(d)(6)(vii), as in effect on
January 4, 2007), or is registered as and eligible to do
business within the United States or a State;
``(B) has maintained a deposit account with the depository
institution for at least 12 months; and
``(C) has engaged, using such account, in multiple currency
transactions that are subject to the reporting requirements
of subsection (a).
``(3) Regulations.--
``(A) In general.--The Secretary of the Treasury shall
prescribe regulations requiring a depository institution to
file a 1-time notice of designation of exemption for each
qualified customer of the depository institution.
``(B) Form and content of exemption notice.--The Secretary
shall by regulation prescribe the form, manner, content, and
timing of the qualified customer exemption notice and such
notice shall include information sufficient to identify the
qualified customer and the accounts of the customer.
``(C) Authority of secretary.--
``(i) In general.--The Secretary may suspend, reject, or
revoke any qualified customer exemption notice, in accordance
with criteria prescribed by the Secretary by regulation.
``(ii) Conditions.--The Secretary may establish conditions,
in accordance with criteria prescribed by regulation, under
which exempt qualified customers of an insured depository
institution that is merged with or acquired by another
insured depository institution will continue to be treated as
designated exempt qualified customers of the surviving or
acquiring institution.''.
(c) 3-Year Review and Report.--Before the end of the 3-year
period beginning on the date of the enactment of this Act,
the Secretary of the Treasury, in consultation with the
Attorney General, the Secretary of Homeland Security, the
Federal banking agencies, the banking industry, and such
other persons as the Secretary deems appropriate, shall
evaluate the operations and effect of the provisions of the
amendment made by subsection (a) and make recommendations to
Congress as to any legislative action with respect to such
provision as the Secretary may determine to be appropriate.
SEC. 3. PERIODIC REVIEW OF REPORTING THRESHOLD AND ADJUSTMENT
FOR INFLATION.
Section 5318 of title 31, United States Code, is amended by
adding at the end the following new subsection:
``(o) Periodic Review of Reporting Threshold and Adjustment
for Inflation.--
``(1) In general.--Before the end of the 90-day period
beginning on the date of the enactment of the Seasoned
Customer CTR Exemption Act of 2007 and at least every 5 years
after the end of such period, the Secretary of the Treasury
shall--
``(A) review the continuing appropriateness, relevance, and
utility of each threshold amount or denomination established
by the Secretary, in the Secretary's discretion, for any
report required by the Secretary under this subchapter; and
``(B) adjust each such amount, at such time and in such
manner as the Secretary considers appropriate, for any
inflation that the Secretary determines has occurred since
the date any such amount was established or last adjusted, as
the case may be.
``(2) Report.--Before the end of the 60-day period
beginning upon the completion of any review by the Secretary
of the Treasury under paragraph (1), the Secretary shall
submit a report to the Congress containing the findings and
conclusions of the Secretary in connection with such review,
together with an explanation for any adjustment, or lack of
adjustment, of any threshold amount or denomination by the
Secretary as a result of
[[Page H849]]
such review, including the adjustment for inflation.''.
The SPEAKER pro tempore. Pursuant to the rule, the gentleman from
Massachusetts (Mr. Frank) and the gentleman from Alabama (Mr. Bachus)
each will control 20 minutes.
The Chair recognizes the gentleman from Massachusetts.
General Leave
Mr. FRANK of Massachusetts. Madam Speaker, I ask unanimous consent
that all Members may have 5 legislative days in which to express
themselves on this and to include therein extraneous material.
The SPEAKER pro tempore. Is there objection to the request of the
gentleman from Massachusetts?
There was no objection.
Mr. FRANK of Massachusetts. Madam Speaker, I yield myself such time
as I may consume.
Madam Speaker, this is an example of sensible regulation because
sensible regulation includes deregulation when that is appropriate.
The Committee on Financial Services reported this bill out last year.
It passed the House. Surprisingly it managed not to make it through the
Senate. The efficiency of that body failed us on this occasion
apparently, but we are going to try again.
We believe in regulation, and this is an important area where we
provide information to our financial detectives, and it is especially
important with regard to terrorist financing.
But too much regulation can defeat the purpose for which regulation
is intended, and we have a situation now where the banks are required
to report every year on customers' transactions of $10,000 or more.
Now, one of the things this bill would do is give the Secretary of the
Treasury the authority to increase a dollar figure that has been left
unadjusted for inflation for too long.
More importantly, we are talking now about the exemption that is
given to what we call seasoned customers of the bank. When the banks
are dealing, and this is particularly important for our community
bankers, when they are dealing with people whom they know, with whom
they have had regular and continuing relationships, having to report
every time they do a transaction of $10,000 or more generates extra
work for the bank, and I believe, if anything, interferes with the
ability of the regulators to find what they should be looking for.
If we are telling people to find needles, we should not set about
building them bigger haystacks. What this bill says is that where we
are talking about regular customers, regular seasoned customers, they
can apply for the exemption, which is in the control of the Secretary
of the Treasury, with careful criteria.
And having received that exemption, as long as they remain seasoned
customers of the same bank, that process does not have to be repeated
every 2 years. It reduces the regulatory burden on banks, and it is
particularly important to small banks.
I would ask at this point, Madam Speaker, under my general leave to
include a letter to myself and the gentleman from Alabama from
America's Community Bankers strongly endorsing this bill.
America's Community Bankers
Washington, DC, January 22, 2007.
Hon. Barney Frank,
Chairman, Financial Services Committee, House of
Representatives Washington, DC.
Hon. Spencer Bachus
Ranking Member, Financial Services Committee, House of
Representatives Washington, DC.
Dear Chairman Frank and Ranking Member Bachus: America's
Community Bankers is pleased to support H.R. 323, the
Seasoned Customer CTR Exemption Act of 2007. The legislation
would make important improvements to the current exemption
system for cash transaction reports (CTRs) by making it
easier to exempt the routine transactions of certain seasoned
business customers. H.R. 323 would more appropriately balance
the cost and benefits of the Bank Secrecy Act's CTR reporting
requirements. The legislation would also reduce the number of
CTRs filed on routine transactions of well-known, law abiding
customers.
We urge the full House of Representatives to adopt H.R. 323
and look forward to working with you to enact this important
legislation.
While we fully support H.R. 323, we urge the Committee to
modernize the Bank Secrecy Act further by increasing the
$10,000 threshold that triggers CTR filing. This threshold
has not been updated since 1970. Increasing the $10,000
trigger would more appropriately balance the reporting
obligations of depository institutions and the information
needs of law enforcement agencies.
Sincerely,
Robert R. Davis,
Executive Vice President and Managing
Director, Government Relations.
{time} 1245
What this will do is to reduce the paperwork burden on the banks; it
will ease the burden on the regulators. It will not diminish in any way
the flow of information that is needed for those whose job it is to
keep us safe.
Madam Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.
Mr. BACHUS. Madam Speaker, I yield 3 minutes to the gentleman from
Texas (Mr. Hensarling).
Mr. HENSARLING. Madam Speaker, I thank the gentleman for yielding. I
certainly thank him for his leadership in this area to remove some
unneeded regulation on our financial institutions. I also want to thank
our new chairman, the gentleman from Massachusetts, for his steadfast
support on this issue as well.
Madam Speaker, current Federal regulations require financial
institutions to file a currency transaction report with the IRS for any
customer transaction over $10,000 during a business day.
We all know that these CTRs, as they are called, are designed to help
our Federal law enforcement thwart money laundering and other illegal
activities; but the problem is that this $10,000 threshold which was
set in 1970 is so low in the existing exemption process, so cumbersome
and costly that it is causing banks to repeatedly file CTRs for many of
their known and expected regular business transactions for their well-
known customers.
And it doesn't matter if that business has been a so-called
``seasoned customer'' for the financial institution for 5, 10, 15 or
even 20 years. Right now it is simply too difficult for our financial
institutions to apply for exemptions for our customers that they know
are not a risk. So this forces, Madam Speaker, our financial
institutions to file CTRs when they know the customer is not a risk
just to protect themselves from legal liability or potential large
fines.
And so when law enforcement is looking for a needle in a haystack,
our financial institutions are being asked to put more hay on the stack
and they are being told to pay for it by taking money away from their
local communities that otherwise could be used for local lending. If
the financial institutions passed these CTR compliance costs on to
customers, through higher fees or higher interest rates, it makes it
more difficult for American citizens to save for retirement, finance a
child's college education, or launch a small business that creates
jobs.
This bill, which I have long supported, will fix this problem by
clarifying the existing CTRs filing exemption for seasoned customers.
And as a result of this legislation, when passed, a number of the 13
million-plus CTRs filed annually would stop, allowing banks to devote
more of their resources to improving other suspicious activity
reporting.
The fact remains, Madam Speaker, when we come across a regulation
like this, if we cannot determine a compelling reason for it to exist
in the modern marketplace, we have a duty to either modify it or
eliminate it, and that is what we are doing today.
Congress today can help reduce the cost of banking for customers
without jeopardizing critical law enforcement goals. I urge all of my
colleagues to support this important bill.
Mr. FRANK of Massachusetts. Madam Speaker, I reserve the balance of
my time.
Mr. BACHUS. Madam Speaker, I yield 2 minutes to the gentleman from
Ohio (Mr. Gillmor).
Mr. GILLMOR. I thank the gentleman for yielding. I would also like to
thank my colleagues on the Financial Services Committee for their
diligence on this legislation.
This much-needed regulatory relief provision will help reduce
unnecessary paperwork for both banks and for their regulators. And by
granting an exemption from currency transaction report requirements for
seasoned customers, this legislation seeks to streamline the filing of
CTRs, which is a critical tool for our law enforcement officials.
[[Page H850]]
There is little doubt that our regulatory structure has contributed
to the United States being the model for the world when it comes to
financial services; but without constant attention to the burdens of
outdated rules and regulations, our markets can be weighted down by
unnecessary costs.
I am pleased to see that Congress is tackling the issues of the
regulatory burden early in this session, and I look forward to working
with Chairman Frank, Chairman Maloney, and Ranking Member Bachus and
the other members to look for ways to find sensible regulatory relief
for our banks, our thrifts, and our credit unions.
Mr. BACHUS. Madam Speaker, I yield 2 minutes to the gentleman from
New Jersey.
Mr. GARRETT of New Jersey. I thank the gentleman.
I, too, rise today in support of H.R. 323, the Seasoned Customer CTR
Exemption Act of 2007, legislation which seeks to reduce the regulatory
burden caused by the previous Bank Secrecy Act and does so by
simplifying exemptions for financial institutions, banks, for example,
in their currency transaction reports, their CTRs, on seasoned
customers.
You know, while well-intentioned CTRs have imposed a tremendous
regulatory burden on financial institutions without a corresponding
increase in benefit to our efforts to thwart terrorist attacks, for the
most part law enforcement agencies have found these reports to be
largely useless in the prevention of crimes and terrorist attacks,
while banks have found the filing costs and regulatory burden they
create enormous.
Currency transaction reports were created to follow any large
transaction through the banking industry to catch money laundering
before it became a fait accompli, but the provision that created them
is now outdated. What was considered a large amount of money back in
1970 is hardly so today; in fact, the threshold for filing a CTR is
$10,000, which in today's term is close to $50,000.
So with the provisions caught in time, banks are now locked in a
situation by which they are filing CTRs for many everyday transactions;
and because of the frequency of these filings, paper overflows and the
actual tracking of criminal activity is severely hampered. Potentially
criminal transactions that should be setting all alarms with the banks
and law enforcement agencies are drowned out in a sea of paperwork.
This legislation then is a good start towards helping reduce
regulatory burdens on our Nation's banks and financial institutions,
and I therefore encourage all of my colleagues to support this
important legislation.
Mr. BACHUS. Madam Speaker, I yield 2 minutes to the gentleman from
Texas (Mr. Neugebauer).
Mr. NEUGEBAUER. Madam Speaker, I rise today in support of H.R. 323,
the Seasoned Customer CTR Exemption Act.
I appreciate the work of Chairman Frank and Ranking Member Bachus to
introduce this legislation and get it on the floor quickly in this
Congress.
The last Congress succeeded in passing some much-needed and long
overdue regulatory relief for some of our financial institutions.
Unfortunately, the provisions that originally were passed in this body
as related to the CTR exemption were not included in that very
important legislation.
In passing H.R. 323 today, the House is saying once more that we
believe financial institutions, their customers and national security
will be better served by exempting institutions from filing CTRs for
their very qualified and seasoned customers.
Banks in my district have been telling me for the past few years that
this legislation is needed. They tell us about the countless staff
hours that it takes to file reports for customers that they have had
relationships with for 20, 30 and 40 years just to be in compliance
with the current regulation.
Under H.R. 323, instead of filing a form every time one of their
long-standing seasoned customers comes in with a transaction over
$10,000, they will file a one-time exemption for that customer to be
recognized as a seasoned and qualified customer. I think that makes
more sense for the American people. I think it makes more sense to use
common sense.
Someone told me recently that the District of Columbia geographically
is a 10-square-mile area, some have said it is a 10-square-mile logic-
free environment. Well, we have an opportunity to overcome that feeling
today by bringing some logic to the way we handle these cash
transactions.
I urge my colleagues to support H.R. 323. Let's bring some common
sense and logic back into the way government handles national security
and recognize that banks and their seasoned customers, those
relationships are long-standing and that time would be better served in
looking at other opportunities.
Mr. FRANK of Massachusetts. Madam Speaker, I reserve the balance of
my time.
Mr. BACHUS. Madam Speaker, I yield to myself such time as I may
consume.
I want to take this occasion to first thank Mr. Frank and
congratulate him. I think this is the first piece of legislation that
he is bringing to the floor in his capacity as the new chairman of the
Financial Services Committee. I congratulate you on your appointment to
that important position, Mr. Frank.
Mr. FRANK of Massachusetts. I thank the gentleman, and if the
gentleman would yield.
Mr. BACHUS. Yes, I would yield.
Mr. FRANK of Massachusetts. I would certainly recommend the way this
bill is being treated and received on both sides as a precedent that I
hope will be followed.
Mr. BACHUS. That sounds very good to me.
I do want to thank you for this piece of legislation because I think
it is both a predictor of the past in that this committee has worked in
a bipartisan way to do the right thing for both the customers of
financial services and for the financial services institutions. And I
am very optimistic that we will continue to work together.
I am going to yield back the balance of my time. I have about a five-
page statement that I will spare the body having to listen to.
I do want to say this: last year this legislation came up, a similar
legislation to this, both in March and July of last year; so this is
basically our third shot in less than a year. It amends the Bank
Secrecy Act; it amends specifically the part of that act dealing with
currency transaction reports. It does not amend the part dealing with
suspicious activity reports. They will continue to report to the
different law enforcement agencies. What this will affect is your drug
stores, your grocery stores, your retail outlets, who every day are
filing these reports.
It is estimated by the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network that the
cost of these alone is 25 minutes spent filing each one of these
reports. So this is going to be a tremendous burden taken away from
them. The American Banking Association said that it will result in a
savings of $187 million annually.
I rise in strong support of H.R. 323, The Seasoned Customer CTR
Exemption Act of 2007.
H.R. 323, which I introduced with Chairman Frank, simplifies the
process by which financial institutions may be exempted from filing
currency transaction reports, CTRs, for seasoned customers while still
ensuring valuable information is passed on to law enforcement.
Twice last year, legislation similar to H.R. 323 passed the House
overwhelmingly: H.R. 5341, the Seasoned Customer CTR Exemption Act of
2006 passed the House by voice vote last July. In addition, the
language was included in the House-passed version of regulatory relief
legislation--H.R. 3505--which passed the House last March by a vote of
415-2.
H.R. 323 seeks to reduce regulatory burden caused by the Bank Secrecy
Act. Specifically, the legislation requires regulators to promulgate
new regulations and streamline the process by which financial
institutions may be exempted from filing CTRs for seasoned customers.
CTRs are required to be filed for cash transactions of $10,000 and
above. This filing is required even in the case of seasoned customers--
long-time bank customers that routinely deal in large volumes of cash,
but whose business dealings are well-enough understood to rule out the
possibility of money laundering or the financing of terror.
The Financial Crimes Enforcement Network, FinCEN, which administers
the Bank Secrecy Act, received over 12 million CTRs in 2005. According
to a survey conducted by the Treasury Department, more than 30 percent
of
[[Page H851]]
these CTRs were on recurring customer transactions that were eligible
for exemption for filing under existing rules.
Unfortunately, the current process by which a financial institution
can exempt seasoned customers is rarely invoked because it is difficult
to understand, needlessly cumbersome, and subject to redundant
renewals.
The filing of these superfluous forms imposes an unnecessary cost on
both the financial services industry and the law enforcement community.
With respect to the financial services industry, according to data
released last year the number of CTRs filed on an annual basis now tops
13.1 million. Even FinCEN's conservative estimate of around 25 minutes
per report for filing and recordkeeping indicates the banking industry
as a whole devoted about 5.5 million staff hours to handling CTRs in
2005.
Based on a survey by the American Bankers Association, the industry
paid around $187 million in wages for this staff time.
A typical bank with $2 billion of assets filed 1,400 CTRs in 2005.
These filings took 583 staff-hours, with 438 of the staffhours simply
to report on long-standing customers.
With respect to the law enforcement community, not only do these
superfluous reports add nothing to its efforts, they actually make it
more difficult for the law enforcement community to track suspicious
activity by requiring it to wade through millions of pages of
unnecessary paperwork.
The Government Accountability Office, GAO, the Internal Revenue
Service, IRS, and FinCEN have all recommended that the number of CTRs
be reduced by 30 to 40 percent by simply exempting large well-
established customers or so-called seasoned customers.
In 1994, the GAO published a report which concluded, based upon an
extensive analysis of CTRs, that the volume of reports could be
substantially reduced without jeopardizing law enforcement priorities.
According to that report, in 1993 the IRS, which administers the CTR
program, stated that 30 to 40 percent of these reports of routine
deposits by large, well-established retail businesses have no
likelihood of identifying potential money laundering or other currency
violations.
William Fox, who headed up FinCEN from 2003 to 2006, testified as
follows before our Committee:
We know that some of the currency transaction reports filed
by financial institutions are of little relevance in the
investigation of financial crimes. We also know that
depository institutions, especially our community banks,
identify the time and expense of filing CTRs as the number
one regulatory expense. It is clear that our efforts to
encourage the exemption of routine filings on certain
customers has not brought about the reductions of filings
that were sought.
H.R. 323 will reduce the number of CTRs by clarifying the exemption
process, thereby freeing financial institutions from having to file
CTRs for routine cash transactions with their long- time customers,
i.e. supermarkets, fast food restaurants or warehouse stores. This will
enable law enforcement to target its resources on CTRs where criminal
or terrorist activity is suspected. Moreover, under the legislation,
banks will still be required to report suspicious transactions engaged
in by exempted businesses pursuant to the Suspicious Activity Reporting
regime administered by FinCEN.
Let me close by thanking Chairman Frank, Congressman Hensarling,
Congressman Moore, Congressman Renzi, Congresswoman Hooley, and
Congresswoman Maloney for all of their work on this legislation. Since
this is the first bill that the gentleman from Massachusetts has
brought to the floor in his capacity as Chairman of the Financial
Services Committee, I want to congratulate him on his appointment, and
tell him that I look forward to working with him to build on the record
of bipartisan legislative accomplishments that our Committee has
compiled over the past several Congresses.
Finally, let me also thank Former FinCEN Director Fox, who deserves a
lot of credit for his work on this issue. I look forward to working
with the Senate and the new FinCEN Director to ensure that this
important legislation is signed into law.
Ms. HIRONO. Madam Speaker, I rise in strong support of H.R. 323, the
Seasoned Customer CTR Exemption Act. This bill eliminates a no-longer-
necessary regulatory requirement which increases the costs of doing
business for hundreds of financial institutions and their customers who
ultimately bear the cost of this regulation.
H.R. 323 provides long overdue relief for our financial institutions
from the requirement of keeping records and filing reports called
Currency Transaction Reports (CTRs) to the Treasury Department for any
financial transaction valued in excess of $10,000.00.
While the original purpose of the regulation, to identify suspected
money laundering activities, was a commendable tool for Federal
prosecutors, its utility has been adequately replaced since 1996 by the
filing of Suspicious Activity Reports required by Treasury Department's
Financial Crimes Enforcement Network. The CTRs are no longer the
primary tool to identify suspected money laundering activities but
banks must still file these reports, unless an exemption is given by
the Department to certain ``qualified business customers.'' The
exemption procedures, however, have been found to be difficult to
understand, cumbersome and still required the banks to obtain annual
renewals.
This legislation will allow by statute the Treasury Department to
issue regulations that would permit depository institutions to apply
for an exemption from the requirement to file CTRs on a ``qualified
customer.'' The bill defines a qualified customer as any business
organized or incorporated under state or federal law that has
maintained a deposit account with the institution for at least twelve
months and engaged in multiple currency transactions otherwise subject
to the reporting requirement.
An estimated 30 percent of the 12 million CTRs received by the
Treasury Department were filed on recurring customer transactions that
were eligible for exemption under the current law. This bill will
relieve financial institutions of the costly and unnecessary
requirement to file CTRs in those instances and allow them to file a
one-time notice of exemption for each qualified customer.
The Department will still be permitted where justified to suspend,
reject or revoke such exemption notices to assure that it performs its
legal duties. It also requires the department to report back within 3
years of enactment on the effects of the bill.
This bill is an example of Congress taking appropriate action after
reviewing a regulatory requirement that made sense when first enacted
but which no longer is needed. Too often, these burdensome requirements
continue on the books to the detriment of our business community.
Congress should continue to work with our business community to
identity other instances of unnecessary regulations and requirements so
that appropriate action can be taken.
Mr. BACHUS. Madam Speaker, I yield back the balance of my time.
Mr. FRANK of Massachusetts. Madam Speaker, I yield back the balance
of my time.
The SPEAKER pro tempore. The question is on the motion offered by the
gentleman from Massachusetts (Mr. Frank) that the House suspend the
rules and pass the bill, H.R. 323.
The question was taken; and (two-thirds being in the affirmative) the
rules were suspended and the bill was passed.
A motion to reconsider was laid on the table.
____________________