U.S. Code » Title 31 » Subtitle SUBTITLE IV— MONEY › Chapter CHAPTER 53— MONETARY TRANSACTIONS › Subchapter SUBCHAPTER II— RECORDS AND REPORTS ON MONETARY INSTRUMENTS TRANSACTIONS

31 U.S.C. § 5325

Identification required to purchase certain monetary instruments

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(a)In General.—No financial institution may issue or sell a bank check, cashier’s check, traveler’s check, or money order to any individual in connection with a transaction or group of such contemporaneous transactions which involves United States coins or currency (or such other monetary instruments as the Secretary may prescribe) in amounts or denominations of $3,000 or more unless—(1) the individual has a transaction account with such financial institution and the financial institution—(A) verifies that fact through a signature card or other information maintained by such institution in connection with the account of such individual; and(B) records the method of verification in accordance with regulations which the Secretary of the Treasury shall prescribe; or(2) the individual furnishes the financial institution with such forms of identification as the Secretary of the Treasury may require in regulations which the Secretary shall prescribe and the financial institution verifies and records such information in accordance with regulations which such Secretary shall prescribe.(b)Report to Secretary Upon Request.—Any information required to be recorded by any financial institution under paragraph (1) or (2) of subsection (a) shall be reported by such institution to the Secretary of the Treasury at the request of such Secretary.(c)Transaction Account Defined.—For purposes of this section, the term “transaction account” has the meaning given to such term in section 19(b)(1)(C) of the Federal Reserve Act.(Added Pub. L. 100–690, title VI, § 6185(b), Nov. 18, 1988, 102 Stat. 4355.)Editorial NotesReferences in Text

Section 19(b)(1)(C) of the Federal Reserve Act, referred to in subsec. (c), is classified to section 461(b)(1)(C) of Title 12, Banks and Banking.

Notes of Decisions
Cited in 6 cases (1 in the last 5 years), 1993–2025 · leading case: United States v. All Funds Presently on Deposit or Attempted to Be Deposited in Any Accounts Maintained at Am. Express Bank, 832 F. Supp. 542 (E.D.N.Y 1993).
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United States v. All Funds Presently on Deposit or Attempted to Be Deposited in Any Accounts Maintained at Am. Express Bank, 832 F. Supp. 542 (E.D.N.Y 1993). “The Remendón money orders were in small, even denominations, and therefore appeared to the government to have been purchased in a manner calculated to avoid the $3,000 reporting requirement of 31 U.S.C. § 5325 and the $10,000 reporting requirement of 31 U.”
State v. W. Union Fin. Servs., Inc., 199 P.3d 592 (Ariz. Ct. App. 2008). “31 U.S.C. § 5325 (2000); A.R.S. § 6-1241(B).”
United States v. One Hundred Thirty-Three (133) United States Postal Serv. Money Orders, 780 F. Supp. 2d 1084 (D. Haw. 2011). · cites it 3× “The reporting requirements at issue are found at 31 U.S.C. § 5325 , and its corresponding regulations at 31 C.”
United States v. Fisher, 291 F. Supp. 3d 356 (W.D.N.Y. 2017). · cites it 3× “ARCARA, UNITED STATES DISTRICT JUDGE The Defendant, Georgina Fisher, is charged with eight counts of causing, or attempting to cause, a financial institution to fail to file a report required by 31 U.S.C. § 5325 (a)(2), and the regulations thereunder, in violation of 31 U.”
United States v. Fisher, 225 F. Supp. 3d 151 (W.D.N.Y. 2016). · cites it 2× “, structuring—in violation of 31 U.S.C. § 5325 (a)(2). The indictment also contained a forfeiture allegation stating that, in the event of a conviction, the Government would seek to forfeit “all right, title, and interest in any and all money and other property involved in the…”
United States v. Anthony Lamon Frazier (11th Cir. 2025). “31 U.S.C. § 5325 (b). USCA11 Case: 24-12897 Document: 42-1 Date Filed: 12/04/2025 Page: 12 of 21 12 Opinion of the Court 24-12897 It is illegal for any person, “for the purpose of evading [these] reporting requirements .”
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