PlainBillCongress, translated.Legislation. Context. Public interest.Referred to the House Committee on Financial Services.
Congressional Research Service
Version 00 · Introduced in House · Jan 3, 2025
FinCEN Oversight and Accountability Act of 2025
This bill requires the Department of the Treasury to keep specified congressional committees informed of the activity of the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN), particularly regarding unlawful activity and any resulting corrective action.
Further, Treasury must disclose to Congress and to the public (with some exclusions) all controlling documents delegating authority to or providing direction to FinCEN. Such disclosure includes any controlling documents in force upon enactment, any controlling documents issued thereafter, and any changes to controlling documents.
The bill extends for an additional five years the time period during which Treasury must testify before Congress regarding FinCEN’s anti-money laundering programs.
FinCEN must also hold an annual small business working group to provide guidance on beneficial ownership reporting obligations.
People & committees
Rep. Davidson, Warren [R-OH-8] · R–OH
Legislative record
A procedural vote is different from passage. Passage in one chamber does not establish enactment. Explore the glossary.
Referred to the House Committee on Financial Services.
Introduced in House
Introduced in House
Primary sources
Text links open the official source. We also preserved the text version used in the PlainBill explanation below.
No related bills are listed in this snapshot. This does not establish whether the proposal has appeared in earlier Congresses.
Source last updated: Sep 2, 2025. Consult Congress.gov for the current record.
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PlainBill explanation
Based on the full Introduced in House · 2025-01-03 text. This explanation has not received human editorial review. This overview describes the proposal’s major provisions; it does not establish what its real-world effects would be.
The bill would require Treasury to keep two congressional committees informed about the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN) and disclose documents giving the agency authority, with exceptions for public disclosure. It would also require an annual small-business working group to discuss business ownership information, improve coordination with FinCEN, and explain reporting obligations.
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
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.
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.
Section 101 would require the Treasury Secretary to keep the House Financial Services Committee and Senate Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs Committee fully and currently informed about FinCEN's activities, including significant anticipated activities.
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.
The Treasury Secretary would also have to promptly report any unlawful FinCEN activity to those committees, together with corrective action taken or planned to address it and prevent recurrence. This reporting requirement does not establish that unlawful activity has occurred.
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.
Section 201 would cover Treasury records that give FinCEN or its Director authority to implement the specified federal laws. It calls these records “controlling documents” and defines the Bank Secrecy Act by listing three sets of statutory provisions.
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.
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.
The Treasury Secretary would have to promptly provide both committees with authority-delegating documents in force when the bill becomes law, documents issued afterward, and subsequent changes, including cancellations.
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.
Treasury would also have to promptly make those documents and changes public. It would exclude reasonably separable portions covered by the disclosure exemptions in the cited federal statute; the bill does not reproduce those exemptions.
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.
Section 202, titled “Testimony by the Director of FinCEN,” would replace “5 years” with “10 years” in the cited existing law. The supplied text does not reproduce that law, so it does not establish exactly how this change would affect the testimony requirement.
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.
Section 301 would add an annual small-business working group requirement to existing law. Its assigned purposes would be sharing information about the effectiveness of beneficial ownership information, coordinating FinCEN and the small-business community, and giving small businesses guidance about ownership-reporting obligations. These are assigned purposes, not evidence that those outcomes would occur.
Section 310(g)(5)(A) of title 31, United States Code, is amended
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.
Section 301 would prohibit appropriations—legislative approval of funding—to carry out its working-group amendments.
No amounts may be appropriated to carry out the amendments made by subsection (a).
The supplied official-actions snapshot, updated September 2, 2025, records introduction in the House and referral to the House Committee on Financial Services on January 3, 2025. It does not establish subsequent legislative action or enactment.
Source snapshot updated 2025-09-02T20:56:40Z. 2025-01-03: Referred to the House Committee on Financial Services. 2025-01-03: Introduced in House
A closer look
Reviewed version: Introduced in House · 2025-01-03. These findings describe provisions and who may benefit; they are not judgments of waste, corruption, or motive.
This review covers the supplied bill text. “None identified” does not rule out provisions in later versions or accompanying reports and disclosures.
Provisions outside the bill’s main subject, or policy changes attached to appropriations.
None identified in the reviewed text
No unrelated provision or policy change attached to appropriations was identified in the complete supplied introduced text. This conclusion does not cover other versions or accompanying materials.
Spending directed to particular recipients or places outside ordinary competitive or formula-based allocation.
None identified in the reviewed text
No congressionally directed spending for particular recipients or places was identified in the complete supplied introduced text. This does not establish the absence of earmarks in other versions or accompanying materials.
Narrow exceptions, exemptions, or preferential treatment that warrant a closer look.
None identified in the reviewed text
No materially narrow carve-out, special exemption, or preferential treatment was identified in the complete supplied introduced text. Ordinary participation by a program's intended beneficiaries does not itself qualify. This conclusion is limited to this version.
Full text preserved for this analysis. Legislative record snapshot: Sep 2, 2025. How PlainBill uses AI