Title page
Contents
Highlights 2
Letter 9
Background 13
Bank Secrecy Act Roles and Responsibilities 13
Bank Secrecy Act and Anti-Money Laundering Requirements 15
Anti-Money Laundering Act of 2020 17
CTR Filing Process 18
Law Enforcement Agencies' Access to CTRs 19
CTR Requirements Have Expanded and Do Not Fully Align with the Statutory Objective of Providing Highly Useful Information 20
Laws and Regulations Have Expanded CTR Scope Despite Alternative Tools for Identifying Suspicious Transactions 20
Some Noncritical Information That CTR Filers Reported as Burdensome Is Infrequently Used by Law Enforcement 25
Institutions Face Constraints Using Exemptions 28
Regulators and Financial Institutions Identified Challenges to Complying with Aggregation Requirements 33
FinCEN Does Not Have a Performance Management Process Specific to CTRs 36
Law Enforcement Agencies Find CTRs Useful, but Did Not Access Most CTRs 37
Law Enforcement Reported CTRs Can Be a Useful Source of Information 38
A Small Portion of CTRs Are Accessed by Law Enforcement 43
Changing the CTR Threshold Involves Balancing Law Enforcement Needs Against Filers' Compliance Burden 54
CTR Filings Have Increased as Reporting Threshold Has Remained at 1972 Level 54
Small Changes in the CTR Threshold Might Significantly Affect Compliance Burden 56
Threshold Changes Could Affect Certain Filers More Than Others 59
Most Law Enforcement Agencies Support Maintaining the Current CTR Threshold 61
CTR Collection of Personal Information Has Led to Privacy Considerations 63
Conclusions 65
Recommendations for Executive Action 66
Agency Comments and Our Evaluation 66
Appendix I: Objectives, Scope, and Methodology 69
Appendix II: GAO Survey of Law Enforcement Use of Currency Transaction Reports 80
Appendix III: Law Enforcement Agencies Most Frequently Accessing Currency Transaction Reports 94
Appendix IV: Currency Transaction Reports Accessed by Law Enforcement in BSA Portal, Fiscal Years 2014-2023 101
Appendix V: Comments from the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network 106
Appendix VI: Comments from the National Credit Union Administration 108
Appendix VII: GAO Contact and Staff Acknowledgments 109
Table 1. Percentage of Noncritical Currency Transaction Report (CTR) Fields Populated by Filers, Fiscal Years 2019-2023 26
Table 2. Currency Transaction Report Exemption Requirements by Customer Type 29
Table 3. Estimated Percentage of Law Enforcement Agencies That Were Able to Use Other Sources Instead of Currency Transaction Reports, January 2021-January 2024 41
Table 4. Proportion of Currency Transaction Reports (CTRs) Accessed by Law Enforcement Agencies in BSA Portal Within 3, 5, and 9 Years of Filing, Fiscal Years 2014-2023 46
Table 5. Currency Transaction Report (CTR) Filings, Fiscal Years 2014-2023, and Proportion Accessed in Fiscal Year 2023, by Number of Parties 51
Table 6. Currency Transaction Report (CTR) Filings, Fiscal Years 2019-2023, and Proportion Accessed in Fiscal Year 2023, by Filer Type 52
Table 7. Currency Transaction Report (CTR) Filings, Fiscal Years 2014-2023, and Proportion Accessed in Fiscal Year 2023, by Selected Industry 53
Table 8. Agency Internal Systems Providing Currency Transaction Report (CTR) Access Data 73
Table 9. Key Sample Weighting Criteria for Depository Institution Interviews 77
Table 10. Valid Survey Responses by Government Level and Primary Function 80
Table 11. Since January 1, 2021, did your agency use currency transaction reports in connection with investigations or prosecutions? 81
Table 12. How often does your agency use each of the following methods to access currency transaction reports? 81
Table 13. Does your agency have a standard practice to search currency transaction reports (either specifically or as part of a broader search of Bank Secrecy Act reports)... 82
Table 14. Since January 1, 2021, how often did your agency identify currency transaction reports that were relevant for each of the following crimes? 83
Table 15. Since January 1, 2021, how often did your agency identify currency transaction reports (CTRs) that were relevant for each of the following purposes? 84
Table 16. Since January 1, 2021, how useful were relevant currency transaction reports (CTRs) for each of the following purposes? 85
Table 17. Since January 1, 2023, how important have currency transaction reports been to investigations or prosecutions in general? 86
Table 18. Since January 1, 2023, how important have each of the following aspects of currency transaction report (CTR) requirements been to the overall usefulness of CTRs? 86
Table 19. Since January 1, 2021, would your agency have been able to use the following sources instead of currency transaction reports in investigations or prosecutions 87
Table 20. Thinking about currency transaction reports that your agency accessed since January 1, 2021, how often has your agency used information about each... 87
Table 21. Thinking about currency transaction reports that your agency accessed since January 1, 2021, how often has your agency used information from each... 88
Table 22. How would each of the following proposed alternatives to the current currency transaction report (CTR) requirements affect your agency? 89
Table 23. How would each of the following proposals affect your agency? 90
Table 24. In your agency's experience, has your agency found higher dollar value currency transaction reports (those over $50,000) to be more or less useful than lower... 91
Table 25. In your agency's opinion, should the currency transaction reporting requirement be changed from the current $10,000 threshold? 92
Table 26. If the threshold were to change, in your agency's opinion, what would be the ideal new threshold? Please enter a numeric value 92
Table 27. Does your agency track any information on its use of currency transaction reports? 92
Table 28. In the past 5 years (since January 1, 2019), has FinCEN ever contacted your agency (other than through the annual audit process) about how your agency... 93
Table 29. Law Enforcement Agencies' Average Number of Currency Transaction Report (CTR) Accesses per Year through BSA Portal, Fiscal Years 2019-2023 95
Table 30. Currency Transaction Report (CTR) Accesses in Fiscal Year 2023 at Selected Federal Agencies 98
Table 31. Currency Transaction Reports (CTRs) Accessed by Law Enforcement Agencies in BSA Portal, Fiscal Years 2014-2023, by Law Enforcement Level 101
Table 32. Currency Transaction Reports (CTRs) Accessed by Law Enforcement Agencies in BSA Portal, Fiscal Years 2014-2023, by Number of Times Accessed 101
Table 33. Currency Transaction Reports (CTRs) Accessed by Law Enforcement Agencies in BSA Portal, Fiscal Years 2014-2023, by Number of Agencies Accessing 102
Table 34. Transaction Value of Currency Transaction Reports (CTRs) Filed and Accessed by Law Enforcement Agencies in BSA Portal, Fiscal Years 2014-2023 102
Table 35. Transaction Value of Currency Transaction Reports (CTRs) Accessed by Law Enforcement Agencies in BSA Portal, Fiscal Years 2014-2023, by Proportion of CTRs Accessed 102
Table 36. Filer Type of Currency Transaction Reports (CTRs) Filed and Accessed by Law Enforcement Agencies in BSA Portal, Fiscal Years 2019-2023 103
Table 37. Party Count of Currency Transaction Reports (CTRs) Filed and Accessed by Law Enforcement Agencies in BSA Portal, Fiscal Years 2014-2023 103
Table 38. Top 10 Industries by Two-Digit NAICS Code, Currency Transaction Reports (CTRs) Filed and Accessed by Law Enforcement Agencies in BSA Portal, Fiscal Years 2014-2023 104
Table 39. Top 10 Industries by Three-Digit NAICS Code, Currency Transaction Reports (CTRs) Filed 104
Table 40. Presence of Business Parties on Currency Transaction Reports (CTRs) Filed and Accessed by Law Enforcement Agencies in BSA Portal, Fiscal Years 2014-2023 105
Figure 1. Example of Process for Filing Currency Transaction Reports 18
Figure 2. Timeline of Key Statutes and Regulations Affecting Currency Transaction Reports (CTR) 21
Figure 3. Visual Representation of the Currency Transaction Report Form and Fields 23
Figure 4. Estimated Percentage of Law Enforcement Agencies That Used Selected Currency Transaction Report (CTR) Fields At Least Occasionally 27
Figure 5. Number of Currency Transaction Reports (CTR) Filed, by Selected Industry Type, Fiscal Years 2014-2023 32
Figure 6. Proportion of Currency Transaction Reports (CTR) Filed in Fiscal Years 2014-2023 That Were Accessed by Law Enforcement in Fiscal Year 2023, by Selected Industry Type 33
Figure 7. Estimated Percentage of Law Enforcement Agencies That at Least Occasionally Identified Currency Transaction Reports Relevant to Selected Crimes, January 2021-January 2024 39
Figure 8. Number of CTRs Accessed by Law Enforcement on BSA Portal or Agency Internal Systems in Fiscal Year 2023 (FY23), for CTRs Filed in Fiscal Years 2014-2023 48
Figure 9. Number of CTRs Accessed by Law Enforcement on BSA Portal or Agency Internal Systems in Fiscal Year 2023, by Fiscal Year Filed 50
Figure 10. Effect on Filing Volume If Currency Transaction Report (CTR) Threshold Had Been Adjusted for Inflation 55
Figure 11. The Number of CTRs Filed in Fiscal Year 2023 Would Have Been Significantly Lower If the Reporting Threshold Had Been Raised 57
Figure 12. Currency Transaction Reports (CTR) Filed, by Filer Type, Fiscal Years 2019-2023 60
Figure 13. Effect a Hypothetical Increase in CTR Threshold Would Have Had on Different Filer Types in Fiscal Year 2023 61
Figure 14. Proportion of CTRs Filed in Fiscal Years 2014-2023 That Were Accessed by Law Enforcement in Fiscal Year 2023, by CTR Dollar Range 63
Figure 15. Law Enforcement Currency Transaction Report Accesses through FinCEN's BSA Portal, Fiscal Years 2019-2023 95
Figure 16. Law Enforcement Currency Transaction Report Accesses through BSA Portal, by Type of Agency, Fiscal Years 2019-2023 96
Figure 17. Number of Law Enforcement Personnel with Access to CTRs through BSA Portal and Internal Systems, Selected Agencies 97