31 U.S.C. § 5331
Section 5331 · Reports relating to coins and currency received in nonfinancial trade or business
This is § 365 of the Uniting and Strengthening America by Providing Appropriate Tools Required to Intercept and Obstruct Terrorism Act of 2001
Amended 2 times on record
Applied in 16 court decisions — leading case Board of Professional Responsibility of the Supreme Court of Tennessee v. Thomas Ewing Cowan (2012)
Most recently applied in United States v. Marion Michael O'Steen (April 2025)
How often courts cite this section
Court decisions citing this, by year.Markers show enactment, consequential amendments, and circuit splits over this section — watch for a citation surge after a change or a disagreement. The dip in the last several years is a data-coverage gap, not a real trend — our corpus holds fewer opinions from the most recent years, so recent citations are undercounted.
(a) Coin and Currency Receipts of More Than $10,000.—Any person—
(1)(A) who is engaged in a trade or business, and
(B) who, in the course of such trade or business, receives more than $10,000 in coins or currency in 1 transaction (or 2 or more related transactions), or
(2) who is required to file a report under section 6050I(g) of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986,
shall file a report described in subsection (b) with respect to such transaction (or related transactions) with the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network at such time and in such manner as the Secretary may, by regulation, prescribe.
(b) Form and Manner of Reports.—A report is described in this subsection if such report—
(1) is in such form as the Secretary may prescribe;
(2) contains—
(A) the name and address, and such other identification information as the Secretary may require, of the person from whom the coins or currency was received;
(B) the amount of coins or currency received;
(C) the date and nature of the transaction; and
(D) such other information, including the identification of the person filing the report, as the Secretary may prescribe.
(c) Exceptions.—
(1) Amounts received by financial institutions.—Subsection (a) shall not apply to amounts received in a transaction reported under section 5313 and regulations prescribed under such section.
(2) Transactions occurring outside the united states.—Except to the extent provided in regulations prescribed by the Secretary, subsection (a) shall not apply to any transaction if the entire transaction occurs outside the United States.
(d) Currency Includes Foreign Currency and Certain Monetary Instruments.—
(1) In general.—For purposes of this section, the term “currency” includes—
(A) foreign currency; and
(B) to the extent provided in regulations prescribed by the Secretary, any monetary instrument (whether or not in bearer form) with a face amount of not more than $10,000.
(2) Scope of application.—Paragraph (1)(B) shall not apply to any check drawn on the account of the writer in a financial institution referred to in subparagraph (A), (B), (C), (D), (E), (F), (G), (J), (K), (R), or (S) of section 5312(a)(2).
Editorial notes U.S. Code · Office of the Law Revision Counsel
References in Text
Section 6050I(g) of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986, referred to in subsec. (a)(2), is classified to section 6050I of Title 26, Internal Revenue Code.
Amendments
2011—Subsec. (a). Pub. L. 112–74 redesignated pars. (1) and (2) as subpars. (A) and (B), respectively, of par. (1), substituted “, and” for “; and” in subpar. (A), inserted “or” at end of subpar. (B), and added par. (2).
Regulations
Pub. L. 107–56, title III, §365(e), formerly §365(f), Oct. 26, 2001, 115 Stat. 335, renumbered §365(e) by Pub. L. 108–458, title VI, §6202(n)(2), Dec. 17, 2004, 118 Stat. 3746, provided that: “Regulations which the Secretary [of the Treasury] determines are necessary to implement this section [enacting this section and amending sections 5312, 5317, 5318, 5321, 5324, 5326, and 5328 of this title] shall be published in final form before the end of the 6-month period beginning on the date of enactment of this Act [Oct. 26, 2001].”