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FinCEN Oversight and Accountability Act of 2025
To make improvements to the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network, and for other purposes.
Summary
This bill would increase congressional oversight of the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN) by requiring the Treasury Secretary to keep House and Senate banking committees fully and currently informed of FinCEN activities and to promptly report any unlawful activity by FinCEN along with corrective actions. It would require the Treasury Secretary to provide Congress and the public with copies of "controlling documents" (records that delegate authority to FinCEN) both currently in force and those issued in the future, including any changes to these documents, with limited exceptions for sensitive information. The bill would also extend the tenure requirement for the FinCEN Director's testimony from 5 years to 10 years. Additionally, it would require FinCEN to hold an annual small business working group to share information about beneficial ownership reporting requirements, coordinate with small businesses, and provide guidance on compliance obligations.
AI-generated plain-language summary of the bill text — neutral, and may be imperfect. See the full text below for the exact wording.
Sponsor (1)
Actions (2)
- Jan 3, 2025 Referred to the House Committee on Financial Services. · house
- Jan 3, 2025 Introduced in House
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Text versions (1)
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Full text
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
January 3, 2025
Mr. Davidson introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Financial Services
A BILL
To make improvements to the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network, 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; TABLE OF CONTENTS.
(a) Short Title.—This Act may be cited as the “FinCEN Oversight and Accountability Act of 2025”.
(b) Table of Contents.—The table of contents for this Act is as follows:
Sec. 1. Short title; table of contents.
TITLE I—CONGRESSIONAL OVERSIGHT
Sec. 101. Information for constitutional functions of Congress.
TITLE II—FINCEN ACCOUNTABILITY
Sec. 201. Transparency with controlling documents. Sec. 202. Testimony by the Director of FinCEN.
TITLE III—SMALL BUSINESS WORKING GROUP
Sec. 301. Small Business Working Groups.
TITLE I—CONGRESSIONAL OVERSIGHT
SEC. 101. INFORMATION FOR CONSTITUTIONAL FUNCTIONS OF CONGRESS.
(a) Keeping Congress Informed.—The Secretary of the Treasury shall keep the Committee on Financial Services of the House of Representatives and the Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs of the Senate fully and currently informed of the activities of the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network, including any significant anticipated activity of such Network.
(b) Report of Unlawful Activity and Corrective Action.—The Secretary of the Treasury shall report promptly to the Committee on Financial Services of the House of Representatives and the Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs of the Senate any unlawful activity of the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network and any corrective action taken or planned to address that activity and prevent such activity in the future.
TITLE II—FINCEN ACCOUNTABILITY
SEC. 201. TRANSPARENCY WITH CONTROLLING DOCUMENTS.
(a) Definition of Controlling Document.—As used in this section, the term “controlling document” refers to any record (as defined in section 3301 of title 44, United States Code) issued by or under the authority of the Secretary, Deputy Secretary, Under Secretary for Enforcement, or any other officer or employee of the Department of the Treasury, that delegates authority to the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network or its Director in the implementation of section 310 of title 31, United States Code, or the Bank Secrecy Act.
(b) Disclosure to Congress.—The Secretary of the Treasury shall promptly provide to the Committee on Financial Services of the House of Representatives and the Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs of the Senate—
(1) controlling documents in force as of the date of the enactment of this Act;
(2) any controlling documents issued thereafter; and
(3) any changes to controlling documents described in paragraphs (1) and (2) made thereafter, including any revocations thereof.
(c) Disclosure to the Public.—The Secretary of the Treasury shall make available promptly to the public the controlling documents and changes that the Secretary is required to provide to the committees listed in subsection (b), excluding such reasonably segregable portions of controlling documents or changes as would fall within an exemption in section 552(b) of title 5, United States Code.
(d) Bank Secrecy Act Defined.—In this section, the term “Bank Secrecy Act” means—
(1) section 21 of the Federal Deposit Insurance Act (12 U.S.C. 1829b);
(2) chapter 2 of title I of Public Law 91-508 (12 U.S.C. 1951 et seq.); and
(3) subchapter II of chapter 53 of title 31, United States Code.
SEC. 202. TESTIMONY BY THE DIRECTOR OF FINCEN.
Section 5336(c)(11)(A) of title 31, United States Code, is amended by striking “5 years” and inserting “10 years”.
TITLE III—SMALL BUSINESS WORKING GROUP
SEC. 301. SMALL BUSINESS WORKING GROUPS.
(a) In General.—Section 310(g)(5)(A) of title 31, United States Code, is amended—
(1) in clause (vi) by striking “and” at the end;
(2) in clause (vii) by striking the period at the end and inserting “; and”; and
(3) by inserting the following at the end:
“(viii) each year, hold a small business working group to—
“(I) share information about the effectiveness of beneficial ownership information;
“(II) promote coordination between FinCEN and the small business community; and
“(III) provide guidance to small businesses about beneficial ownership reporting obligations.”.
(b) Appropriations.—No amounts may be appropriated to carry out the amendments made by subsection (a). <all>
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