Financial Reporting Threshold Modernization Act
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The bill would raise the dollar thresholds that trigger currency-transaction and suspicious-activity reports at banks and other financial institutions, and would require those thresholds to be adjusted for inflation every five years.
Supporters say the current thresholds, some unchanged since the 1970s, generate excessive paperwork; the change would shrink the volume of reports institutions must file with federal anti-money-laundering regulators.
What this bill would do
What it would do
The bill would direct the Treasury Department to raise the $10,000 threshold for currency transaction reports to $30,000, raise thresholds for suspicious activity reports (from $5,000 to $10,000, and from $2,000 to $3,000), and raise the money services business registration threshold from $1,000 to $3,000. It would require these thresholds to be updated every five years for inflation using the Consumer Price Index, rounded to the nearest $500. Treasury would also have to review the forms and requirements behind these reports for effectiveness and efficiency, update them as needed, and report findings and recommendations to congressional banking committees. The bill would not eliminate any reporting requirement itself, only raise the dollar levels that trigger them and mandate periodic reviews. It would also extend, from five years to ten, the interval at which the FinCEN director must testify before Congress on beneficial ownership reporting and related issues.
Key provisions
- 1Would raise the currency transaction report threshold from $10,000 to $30,000 within 180 days of enactment
- 2Would raise the threshold for coin and currency reports in nonfinancial trades or businesses from $10,000 to $30,000
- 3Would raise suspicious activity report thresholds from $5,000 to $10,000 and from $2,000 to $3,000
- 4Would raise the money services business registration threshold from $1,000 to $3,000
- 5Would require all these thresholds be adjusted every five years for inflation based on the Consumer Price Index
- 6Would require Treasury to review and report on the effectiveness of related reporting forms and requirements
- 7Would extend the interval for required FinCEN director congressional testimony from five years to ten years
Who would be affected
Banks, credit unions, money services businesses, and other financial institutions that file currency-transaction and suspicious-activity reports with the Treasury's Financial Crimes Enforcement Network, along with law enforcement agencies that rely on those reports and the FinCEN director, who would testify less frequently.
Why it matters
Raising the thresholds would reduce the number of routine reports financial institutions must file, potentially lowering compliance costs, but could also mean smaller transactions escape scrutiny that anti-money-laundering investigators currently use. The inflation adjustment would keep the thresholds from becoming outdated again over time.
What would change
Changes to existing law
Amends 31 U.S.C. §§ 5313, 5315 (currency transaction reporting) (Sec. 2(a)(1))
Directs Treasury to raise the $10,000 reporting threshold to $30,000 and adjust it for inflation every five years
Amends 31 U.S.C. § 5331 (coin and currency reports in trade or business) (Sec. 2(a)(2))
Raises the $10,000 threshold to $30,000 and adds a requirement to adjust it for inflation every five years
Amends 31 U.S.C. § 5318(g) (suspicious activity reports) (Sec. 2(b))
Raises the $5,000 and $2,000 thresholds to $10,000 and $3,000 respectively, with five-year inflation updates
Amends 31 CFR § 1010.100(ff) (money services business definition) (Sec. 2(c))
Raises the $1,000 threshold to $3,000, with five-year inflation updates
Amends 31 U.S.C. § 5336(c)(11)(A) (FinCEN director testimony requirement) (Sec. 3)
Extends the interval between required congressional testimony appearances from five years to ten years
Amends Anti-Money Laundering Act of 2020 (Sec. 2(d)(3))
Directs Treasury to conduct reviews and submit reports already required under that Act's sections 6204, 6205, and 6216
Agencies directed to act
Effective dates
- Treasury must update currency transaction and coin/currency thresholds
- Agencies must update suspicious activity report thresholds
- Treasury must update money services business threshold
- Treasury must complete review and submit report on forms and requirements
Funding and costs
Congressional Budget Office estimate
CBO estimates that enacting H.R. 1799 would decrease both direct spending and revenues by less than $500,000 over the 2026–2036 period, with a negligible net effect on the deficit.
CBO estimates that H.R. 1799 would reduce direct spending and revenues by less than $500,000 each over the 2026–2036 period, resulting in an insignificant net effect on the federal deficit. The main budgetary effects stem from a small reduction in civil and criminal penalty collections — because raising the reporting threshold means fewer businesses would be required to file reports with FinCEN — and minor administrative costs for agencies that would need to update their regulations, some of which recover costs through fees charged to financial institutions. Discretionary spending (spending subject to annual congressional appropriations) for FinCEN and other agencies to implement the bill is also estimated at less than $500,000 over 2026–2031. The bill contains a private-sector mandate — potential fee increases passed on to financial institutions — but CBO estimates its cost would fall well below UMRA's $214 million annual threshold; no intergovernmental mandates were identified.
How implementation would work
Within 180 days of enactment, Treasury and other regulators would revise their regulations to reflect the new dollar thresholds. Every five years thereafter, the thresholds would be automatically updated based on Consumer Price Index changes, rounded to the nearest $500. Within 360 days of enactment, Treasury would consult with private-sector stakeholders and law enforcement to review the underlying forms and reporting requirements, update them as necessary, and submit a report with findings and recommendations to the Senate Banking Committee and House Financial Services Committee.
Legislative status & sources
Latest action
Placed on the Union Calendar, Calendar No. 478.
Official CRS summary
Show the CRS summaryHide the CRS summary
This bill increases the threshold amounts for certain reporting by financial institutions, adjusts these amounts periodically for inflation, and requires a review of specified financial forms and reporting requirements.
The bill increases the threshold dollar amounts above which financial institutions are required to file currency-transaction and suspicious-activity reports with the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN). The bill also increases the transaction threshold above which an entity must register with FinCEN as a money services business. Further, these amounts must be updated every five years to reflect the change in the consumer price index.
Treasury must review and report on the effectiveness and efficiency of the forms and requirements regarding domestic coin and currency transactions, foreign currency transactions, and anti-money laundering and combating the financing of terrorism measures, among other matters. Treasury must also make appropriate updates to such forms.
The bill also extends through 2031 the requirement that the director of FinCEN must be made annually available for testimony before congressional committees regarding certain FinCEN issues, including resources needed to implement beneficial ownership reporting requirements.
Legislative subjects
Administrative law and regulatory procedures; Banking and financial institutions regulation; Business records; Currency; Department of the Treasury; Finance and Financial Sector; Fraud offenses and financial crimes
Committee report
H. Rept. 119-556