FinCEN Rule Changes; Clerks of the Court, and Payroll Customer CTR Exemption

FinCEN Updates sent this bulletin at 06/04/2012 10:14 AM EDT

The Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN) today released a new rule, Requirement That Clerks of Court Report Certain Currency Transactions,  Large currency transactions involving clerks of court, such as payments to make bail, can be indicative of money laundering and other underlying criminal activity. The rule applies to Federal and State clerks of court as well as to the branch of the court authorized to receive bail. Clerks of court already are required to report certain currency transactions with the IRS using Form 8300 and will be deemed to comply with FinCEN’s rule if they comply with the applicable IRS rule.

In addition, FinCEN today issued a technical final rule change related to exempting certain Currency Transaction Reports (CTRs) that banks may file on customers using cash for payroll purposes. In describing the defining terms related to firms which withdraw more than $10,000 in order to pay their US employees in currency, the word “regularly” was replaced with “frequently.” This change conforms the language to other available exemptions and should make it easier for banks to take advantage of this exemption.

Requirement That Clerks of Court Report Certain CurrencyTransactions:

 http://www.fincen.gov/statutes_regs/frn/pdf/Clerks_of_Court_Final_Rule.pdf

Exemption From the Requirement to Report Transactions in Currency:

http://www.fincen.gov/statutes_regs/frn/pdf/CTR_Final_Rule_for_Payroll_Customer.pdf