Bessent Signals Movement On Long-Sought CTR, SAR Reporting Relief
By CU Today Staff —
WASHINGTON—Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent has offered one of the clearest signals yet that the Administration is preparing changes to decades-old Currency Transaction Report and Suspicious Activity Report requirements, telling lawmakers Treasury is considering both higher reporting thresholds and giving financial institutions credit for how long they have known their customers.
The comments came during Bessent's Tuesday appearance before the House Financial Services Committee, where Chairman French Hill (R-AR) noted FinCEN's then-director Andrea Gacki told the committee in July that discussions were underway with Treasury leadership over updating the thresholds. Hill said a Treasury report to Congress on the issue is now five years overdue.
“We believe that we must get this right because, as you said, it has gone on for years and we want to do that with a combination of potentially raising the thresholds and also giving credit to institutions for the duration that they have known their clients,” Bessent responded.
He added Treasury is examining ways to reduce unnecessary costs for smaller financial institutions while maintaining financial system safeguards.
Rep. Roger Williams (R-TX) pressed Bessent for a timeline and a commitment that changes would produce meaningful relief rather than a marginal adjustment, specifically citing compliance costs borne by community banks and credit unions.
Bessent said he could not provide an exact timetable but added, “I can commit to your last point that this is very important rulemaking and we need to get it right because of the burden on small and community banks. And we are looking at their special place in the financial system in terms of their reporting requirements and their enhanced knowledge of their customers.”
The potential changes would address requirements credit unions have pushed Congress and Treasury to modernize for years. Financial institutions generally must file CTRs for cash transactions exceeding $10,000 in a day and SARs for certain suspicious transactions involving at least $5,000. As CUToday.info has previously reported, the credit union-supported Financial Reporting Threshold Modernization Act would raise the CTR threshold to $30,000 and the SAR threshold to $10,000 while providing for periodic inflation adjustments to the CTR threshold.
The reporting volume has added urgency to the debate. House Financial Services Committee leaders said approximately 21.5 million CTRs and 4.8 million SARs were filed in 2025, while citing a Government Accountability Office finding that law enforcement accessed just 5.4% of CTRs filed during the period it reviewed. At a July hearing, Gacki said threshold changes remained under discussion even though they were not included in FinCEN's pending AML program rulemaking.
Washington credit union advocate John McKechnie said Bessent's testimony was encouraging.
“Reform of the entire CTR issue is long overdue, and Secretary Bessent clearly struck the right note yesterday in his House testimony. He's in a position to do something, and I know credit unions are anxious to get busy and help push things along if Bessent and the Congress put something substantive on the table," McKechnie said.”
Defense Credit Union Council Chief Advocacy Officer Jason Stverak said DCUC wants both CTR and SAR requirements revisited.
“DCUC wants to see currency transaction and suspicious activity reporting requirements revisited, including reporting thresholds, periodic inflation adjustments, and opportunities to simplify the process. Our goal is meaningful modernization that reduces unnecessary compliance work while preserving the information law enforcement needs to combat money laundering, fraud, and other financial crimes," Stverak told CUToday.info. "For credit unions, this discussion is about directing resources toward identifying actual risks, protecting members, and providing financial services not simply generating more paperwork. We want credit unions included throughout the review, with consideration given to institutional size, complexity, and established member relationships.
“DCUC stands ready to work with Congress and the Administration to examine these requirements and develop practical updates," continued Stverak. "We welcome the opportunity to bring credit unions’ experience to the table, particularly the realities of serving servicemembers, veterans, and military families. The objective is a reporting framework that delivers useful financial intelligence, clear expectations, and measurable relief from unnecessary compliance burdens.”
Originally reported by CU Today.