Rule2025-17371
Geographic Targeting Order Imposing Recordkeeping and Reporting Requirements on Certain Money Services Businesses Along the Southwest Border
Primary source
Metadata and text below are from the Federal Register, a public-domain U.S. government work. Always verify the official published version before relying on it for any legal matter.
Published
September 10, 2025
Effective
September 10, 2025
Issuing agencies
Treasury DepartmentFinancial Crimes Enforcement Network
Abstract
FinCEN is issuing this Geographic Targeting Order, requiring certain money services businesses along the southwest border of the United States to report and retain records of transactions in currency of $1,000 or more, but not more than $10,000, and to verify the identity of persons presenting such transactions. This Order follows a previously issued Geographic Targeting Order, which required reporting of transactions in currency of more than $200, but not more than $10,000.
Full Text
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<title>Federal Register, Volume 90 Issue 173 (Wednesday, September 10, 2025)</title>
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[Federal Register Volume 90, Number 173 (Wednesday, September 10, 2025)]
[Rules and Regulations]
[Pages 43557-43559]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [<a href="http://www.gpo.gov">www.gpo.gov</a>]
[FR Doc No: 2025-17371]
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DEPARTMENT OF THE TREASURY
Financial Crimes Enforcement Network
31 CFR Part 1010
Geographic Targeting Order Imposing Recordkeeping and Reporting
Requirements on Certain Money Services Businesses Along the Southwest
Border
AGENCY: Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN), Treasury.
ACTION: Order.
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SUMMARY: FinCEN is issuing this Geographic Targeting Order, requiring
certain money services businesses along the southwest border of the
United States to report and retain records of transactions in currency
of $1,000 or more, but not more than $10,000, and to verify the
identity of persons presenting such transactions. This Order follows a
previously issued Geographic Targeting Order, which required reporting
of transactions in currency of more than $200, but not more than
$10,000.
DATES:
Effective Date: This action is effective September 10, 2025.
Compliance Date: The compliance date for persons that were not
Covered Businesses under the Geographic Targeting Order published by
FinCEN on March 14, 2025 (90 FR 12106) is October 10, 2025.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: FinCEN's Regulatory Support Section by
submitting an inquiry at <a href="http://www.fincen.gov/contact">www.fincen.gov/contact</a>.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
I. Background
If the Secretary of the Treasury (Secretary) finds, upon his own
initiative or at the request of an appropriate Federal or State law
enforcement official, that reasonable grounds exist for concluding that
additional recordkeeping and reporting requirements are necessary to
carry out the purposes of the Bank Secrecy Act (BSA) \1\ or to prevent
evasions thereof, the Secretary may issue a Geographic Targeting Order
(GTO) requiring any domestic financial institution or group of domestic
financial institutions, or any domestic nonfinancial trade or business
or group of domestic nonfinancial trades or businesses, in a geographic
area to obtain such information as the Secretary may describe in such
GTO concerning any transaction in which such financial institution or
nonfinancial trade or business is involved in for the payment, receipt,
or transfer of funds (as the Secretary may describe in such GTO), and
concerning any other person participating in such transaction.\2\ For
any such transaction, the Secretary may require the financial
institution or nonfinancial trade or business to maintain a record and/
or file a report in the manner and to the extent specified.\3\ The
maximum effective period for a GTO is 180 days unless renewed.\4\ The
authority of the Secretary to issue a GTO has been delegated to the
Director of FinCEN (Director).\5\
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\1\ The Bank Secrecy Act, as amended, is codified at 12 U.S.C.
1829b, 1951-1960 and 31 U.S.C. 5311-5314, 5316-5336 and includes
other authorities reflected in notes thereto. Regulations
implementing the BSA appear at 31 CFR chapter X. The Secretary of
the Treasury's authority to administer the BSA has been delegated to
the Director of FinCEN. See Treasury Order 180-01 (Jan. 14, 2020).
\2\ 31 U.S.C. 5326(a); see also 31 CFR 1010.370.
\3\ 31 U.S.C. 5326(a).
\4\ 31 U.S.C. 5326(d).
\5\ Treasury Order 180-01 (Jan. 14, 2020).
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The Director finds that reasonable grounds exist for concluding
that the additional recordkeeping and reporting requirements set forth
in the GTO contained in this document (the ``Order'') are necessary to
carry out the purposes of the BSA or to prevent evasions thereof. This
action is being taken in furtherance of Treasury's efforts to combat
illicit finance by drug cartels and other illicit actors along the
southwest border of United States. The Order does not alter any
existing BSA obligation of a Covered Business (as defined in the
Order), except as otherwise noted in the Order itself. Thus, for
example, a Covered Business must continue to file Currency Transaction
Reports (CTRs) for transactions in currency above $10,000 and
Suspicious Activity Reports (SARs) where appropriate and in accordance
with the BSA and applicable regulations. Although the dollar
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thresholds for filing SARs in the SAR regulation applicable to Covered
Businesses remains the same (as low as $2,000),\6\ FinCEN encourages
the voluntary filing of SARs where appropriate to report transactions
conducted to evade the $1,000 reporting threshold imposed by the Order.
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\6\ 31 CFR 1022.320.
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II. Geographic Targeting Order
A. Businesses and Transactions Covered by This Order
1. For purposes of this Order, the ``Covered Business'' means a
money services business, as defined in 31 CFR 1010.100(ff), located in
the Covered Geographic Area, except, for the period during which an
applicable injunction remains in force, any money services business to
which the government is enjoined by court order from applying the
Geographic Targeting Order published by FinCEN on March 14, 2025 (90 FR
12106).
2. For purposes of this Order, a ``Covered Transaction'' means each
deposit, withdrawal, exchange of currency or other payment or transfer,
by, through, or to the Covered Business which involves a transaction in
currency, of $1,000 or more, but not more than $10,000.
3. For purposes of this Order, a ``Covered Geographic Area'' means:
a. The following counties in Arizona:
i. Santa Cruz County, Arizona; and
ii. Yuma County, Arizona;
b. The following counties in Texas:
i. Cameron County, Texas;
ii. El Paso County, Texas;
iii. Hidalgo County, Texas;
iv. Maverick County, Texas; and
v. Webb County, Texas; \7\ and
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\7\ As of this date, the government is enjoined from applying
the Geographic Targeting Order of March 14, 2025, to certain MSBs in
Texas. Thus, until the relevant injunctions are lifted, those MSBs
are exempt from the definition of Covered Businesses for purposes of
the requirements of this Order.
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b. The following ZIP Codes in California:
i. 92231, 92249, 92281, and 92283 (Imperial County, California);
and
ii. 91910, 92101, 92113, 92117, 92126, 92154, and 92173 (San Diego
County, California).\8\
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\8\ As of this date, the government is enjoined from applying
the Geographic Targeting Order of March 14, 2025, to MSBs in
Imperial County and San Diego County. Thus, until that injunction is
lifted, MSBs in these counties are exempt from the definition of
Covered Businesses for purposes of the requirements of this Order.
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4. All terms used but not otherwise defined herein shall have the
same meaning set forth in part 1010 of chapter X of subtitle B of title
31 of the Code of Federal Regulations.
B. Reports Required To Be Filed by the Covered Business
5. Except as otherwise set forth in this Order, if the Covered
Business is involved in a Covered Transaction, then the Covered
Business shall report the Covered Transaction to FinCEN on a Currency
Transaction Report within 30 days following the day on which the
Covered Transaction occurred. In the case of the U.S. Postal Service,
the obligation contained in the preceding sentence shall not apply to
payments or transfers made solely in connection with the purchase of
postage or philatelic products.
Note: When submitting the report, the Covered Business may
receive a warning that the transaction is below $10,000. The Covered
Business shall ignore the warning and continue with the submission.
6. Each report filed pursuant to this Order must be: (a) completed
in accordance with the terms of this Order and the Currency Transaction
Report instructions (when those terms and those instructions conflict,
the terms of this Order prevail); and (b) e-filed though the BSA E-
Filing System.\9\
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\9\ To electronically file a Currency Transaction Report, a
Covered Business will need a BSA E-Filing User account. To create a
BSA E-Filing User account, please visit <a href="https://bsaefiling.fincen.treas.gov/Enroll_Now.html">https://bsaefiling.fincen.treas.gov/Enroll_Now.html</a>. For more information on
E-Filing, please visit <a href="https://bsaefiling.fincen.treas.gov/AboutBsa.html">https://bsaefiling.fincen.treas.gov/AboutBsa.html</a>.
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7. Before concluding a Covered Transaction, the Covered Business
must comply with the identification requirements set forth at 31 CFR
1010.312, including the requirement that the specific identifying
information (e.g., the account number of the credit card, the driver's
license number) used in verifying the identity of the customer shall be
recorded on the Currency Transaction Report, and the mere notation of
``known customer'' or ``bank signature card on file'' on the report is
prohibited. For purposes of this requirement, the Covered Business need
not identify employees of armored car services.
8. The Covered Business is not required to file a report otherwise
required under this Order on a Covered Transaction between the Covered
Business and a commercial bank.
9. Part IV of the Currency Transaction Report shall contain the
following information in Field 45: ``MSB0925GTO''.
C. Order Period
The terms of this Order are effective beginning September 10, 2025
and ending on March 6, 2026. The compliance date for persons that were
not Covered Businesses under the Geographic Targeting Order published
by FinCEN on March 14, 2025 (90 FR 12106) is October 10, 2025.
D. Retention of Records
The Covered Business must: (a) retain all reports filed to comply
with this Order and any other records relating to compliance with this
Order for a period of five years from the last day that this Order is
effective (including any renewals of this Order); (b) store all such
records in a manner accessible within a reasonable period of time; and
(c) make such records available to FinCEN, or any other appropriate law
enforcement or regulatory agency, upon request, in accordance with
applicable law.
E. No Effect on Other Provision of the BSA or Its Implementing
Regulations
Nothing in this Order otherwise modifies or affects any provision
of the BSA or the regulations implementing the BSA to the extent not
expressly stated herein.
F. Confidentiality
This Order is being publicly issued, and its terms are not
confidential.
G. Compliance
The Covered Business must supervise, and is responsible for,
compliance by each of its officers, directors, employees, and agents
with the terms of this Order. The Covered Business must transmit this
Order to each of its agents located in the Covered Geographic Area. The
Covered Business must also transmit this Order to its Chief Executive
Officer or other similarly acting manager.
H. Penalties for Noncompliance
The Covered Business, and any of its officers, directors,
employees, and agents, may be liable, without limitation, for civil or
criminal penalties for violating any of the terms of this Order.
I. Validity of Order
Any judicial determination that any provision of this Order is
invalid shall not affect the validity of any other provision of this
Order, and each other provision shall thereafter remain in full force
and effect. A copy of this Order carries the full force and effect of
an original signed Order.
J. Paperwork Reduction Act
The collection of information subject to the Paperwork Reduction
Act contained in this Order has been approved by the Office of
Management and Budget (OMB) and assigned OMB
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control number 1506-0056. An agency may not conduct or sponsor, and a
person is not required to respond to, a collection of information
unless it displays a valid OMB control number.
K. Questions
All questions about the Order should be directed to FinCEN at
<a href="https://www.fincen.gov/contact">https://www.fincen.gov/contact</a>.
(Authority: 31 U.S.C. 5326)
Andrea M. Gacki,
Director, Financial Crimes Enforcement Network.
[FR Doc. 2025-17371 Filed 9-9-25; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4810-02-P
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</html>Indexed from Federal Register on September 10, 2025.
This is legal information, not legal advice. Laws vary by jurisdiction and change frequently. Always verify current law with official sources and consult a licensed attorney in your jurisdiction for advice on your specific situation.