Two U.S. senators reintroduced a bipartisan bill that would subject informal-value transfers and blank checks to anti-financial crime laws and strengthen the hand of prosecutors pursuing money-laundering charges. 

The measure, introduced Friday by Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Chuck Grassley (R-IA) and Sen. Amy Klobuchar (D-MN), would increase penalties for bulk-cash smuggling, clarify how prosecutors can apply structuring charges to aggregate transactions, and grant the U.S. Secret Service greater authority to investigate illicit payments linked to ransomware groups and other criminals.  

The legislation would also expand the definition of “money services business” to include entities that “engage in the transfer, transportation, or exchange of currency, funds, or value that substitutes for currency by any and all means, even when not performed for profit.” 

Blank checks that are shipped across borders in order to avoid U.S. anti-money laundering (AML) reporting requirements would be treated as if valued at more than $10,000 if drawn from account that contained, “or was intended to contain,” $10,000 or more. The change would subject such shipments to U.S. reporting requirements and related penalties.

The bill also directs the U.S. Treasury Department, in conjunction with the Justice Department and Department of Homeland Security, to produce a threat and operational analysis on how remittances are used to finance terrorism, narcotics trafficking, human trafficking, money laundering and other illicit activity. 

The lawmakers previously introduced versions of the legislation in 2022 and 2024, but the measures never made it out of committee. 

Read the bill here