Reports of Certain Domestic Transactions

Congress amended the BSA in 1988 to give the Secretary the authority to issue geographic targeting orders (GTOs) requiring any domestic financial institution or group of domestic financial institutions in a geographic area to collect certain information regarding specified transactions, and to report that information in the manner and to the extent specified in the GTO. Congress subsequently amended the GTO authority to: (i) permit the issuance of confidential GTOs; (ii) lengthen the maximum effective period (unless renewed) of GTOs from 60 to 180 days; (iii) cover transactions involving transfers of funds; and (iv) clarify that GTOs can be issued upon reasonable grounds for concluding that additional requirements are necessary to carry out the purposes of the BSA or to prevent evasions of the BSA. Pursuant to 31 U.S.C. 5326(a), as amended, if the Secretary finds that reasonable grounds exist for concluding that additional recordkeeping and reporting are necessary to carry out the purpose of the BSA or to prevent evasions thereof, the Secretary may issue a GTO requiring any domestic financial institution or nonfinancial trade or business or group of domestic financial institutions or domestic nonfinancial trades or businesses in a geographic area to obtain information about certain transactions, as described in the GTO. Generally, 31 U.S.C. 5326(a) requires entities that receive such a GTO to report, in the manner and to the extent specified in the GTO, information concerning any transaction in which such entity is involved for the payment, receipt, or transfer of funds (as described in the GTO). A GTO typically will include the following terms: (i) the dollar amount of transactions subject to the reporting requirement; (ii) the type of transactions subject to or exempt from the reporting requirement; (iii) the appropriate form for reporting and the method for form submission; (iv) the start and end dates by which the transactions specified in the GTO are to be reported; (v) a point of contact for questions; (vi) the amount of time the reports and records of reports generated are required to be retained; and (vii) any other information deemed necessary to carry out the purpose of the GTO. Pursuant to 31 U.S.C. 5326(d), GTOs cannot prescribe a reporting period longer than 180 days unless the GTO is renewed pursuant to 31 U.S.C. 5326(a). Pursuant to 31 U.S.C. 5326(a)(2), as implemented by 31 CFR 1010.410(d), each entity that receives a GTO must retain the original or a copy of the information required to be reported in the GTO for the period specified in the GTO, not to exceed five years.

The latest form for Reports of Certain Domestic Transactions expires 2027-06-30 and can be found here.