A group of US senators led by Senate Banking Committee Chair Tim Scott (R-S.C.) has introduced legislation to modernize the Bank Secrecy Act, the foundation of the country’s Anti-Money Laundering (AML) framework.
The Bank Secrecy Act, passed in 1970, obliges banks, credit unions, and other financial institutions to help federal authorities detect and prevent financial crimes, including money laundering, terrorist financing, and related illicit activity.
The proposed legislation, known as the STREAMLINE Act, would raise the Bank Secrecy Act’s reporting thresholds for the first time since its creation more than 50 years ago.
The bill increases the Currency Transaction Report (CTR) threshold to $30,000 from $10,000 and the Suspicious Activity Report (SAR) thresholds from $2,000 to $3,000 and $5,000 to $10,000, while requiring the Treasury Department to adjust these amounts every five years to account for inflation.
Under current law, financial institutions must file CTRs for cash transactions exceeding $10,000 and SARs for transactions involving $2,000 to $5,000, depending on the level of suspicion or evidence of criminal activity.
Senator Pete Ricketts, who supports the bill, said, “After more than 50 years of inflation, the Bank Secrecy Act’s reporting thresholds are badly outdated. They must be modernized.”
He added that the new bill “cuts red tape for banks and credit unions,” ensuring “law enforcement still has the tools they need to do their job.”
US-based crypto exchanges like Coinbase and Kraken are also required to comply with the Bank Secrecy Act.
Crypto leaders and lawmakers meet
As lawmakers propose broader financial regulation, industry groups are increasing their policy engagement.
On Tuesday, a coalition of fintech and crypto industry trade groups wrote a letter to the US Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) urging it to finalize an open banking rule that affirms individuals, not banks, own their financial data.
Open banking, which allows consumers to share financial data with third-party apps through APIs, serves as a key link between traditional finance and sectors like decentralized finance (DeFi), crypto payment networks and digital banking platforms.
Meanwhile, Senate Democrats held talks with crypto industry leaders on the US market structure bill, the Senate’s counterpart to the House’s CLARITY Act, which aims to create a unified federal framework for digital asset regulation. On Wednesday, Senator Kirsten Gillibrand and several other Senate Democrats met with crypto industry leaders from Circle, Ripple, Kraken, Coinbase Chainlink and others.
Source: Eleanor Terrett
According to a post from journalist Eleanor Terrett on X, “the senators as a group said they were committed to getting a bill done.”
The US government has been shut down since Oct. 1, marking the third-longest closure in US history. It is unlikely there will be a vote on the digital assets market structure bill until it reopens.