FinCEN and the Federal Reserve Withdraw Proposal to Lower Cross-Border Transfer Threshold to $250, Keeping the $3,000 Rule
The Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN), part of the U.S. Department of the Treasury, announced on November 6 that it is jointly withdrawing, with the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System, a proposed rule first issued in 2020. The proposal would have lowered the information recordkeeping and transmission threshold for cross-border funds transfers from $3,000 to $250; with the withdrawal, the existing $3,000 threshold remains in place.
Under the original proposal, funds transfers and transmittals of funds that begin or end outside the United States would, at $250 or more, have required financial institutions to collect and retain sender and recipient information under the Bank Secrecy Act's Recordkeeping Rule and to transmit that information to other financial institutions in the payment chain under the Travel Rule, while the threshold for domestic transfers would have stayed at $3,000. The proposal would also have clarified that the two rules apply to transactions involving convertible virtual currencies and digital assets with legal tender status.
The agencies' joint withdrawal notice was filed for public inspection with the Federal Register on November 6, as document 2026-22809, and is scheduled for publication on November 9, when the withdrawal takes effect. The notice states that the agencies will not take further action on the proposal.
FinCEN said in its announcement that more than five years have passed since the proposal was issued and that the digital asset industry and related landscape have changed significantly in that time; the withdrawal is intended to make clear to the public that no final rule will be issued without an additional opportunity for public comment. Any similar future change would first go through a new public comment process.
For banks, money transmitters and virtual currency platforms, the practical effect is that there is no new obligation for now: the existing recordkeeping and Travel Rule requirements at the $3,000 level for cross-border transfers continue as before, and existing anti-money-laundering and customer identification duties are unaffected by the withdrawal. (Source: Financial Crimes Enforcement Network)
Source: Financial Crimes Enforcement Network
Published by GSM · USA (original Chinese edition)
Photo: 图：位于华盛顿的美国财政部大楼。照片：财政部固定图库（公共领域）。 / Photo: The U.S. Treasury Building in Washington. Photo from the Treasury fixed asset library (public domain).
