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31 U.S. Code § 5312. Definitions and application
(a) In this subchapter—
(1)
“financial agency” means a person acting for a person (except for a country, a monetary or financial authority acting as a monetary or financial authority, or an international financial institution of which the United States Government is a member) as a financial institution, bailee, depository trustee, or agent, or acting in a similar way related to money, credit, securities, gold, a transaction in money, credit, securities or gold, or a service provided with respect to money, securities, futures, precious metals, stones and jewels, or value that substitutes for currency.
(2) “financial institution” means—
(A)
an insured bank (as defined in section 3(h) of the Federal Deposit Insurance Act (12 U.S.C. 1813(h)));
(B)
a commercial bank or trust company;
(C)
a private banker;
(D)
an agency or branch of a foreign bank in the United States;
(E)
any credit union;
(F)
a thrift institution;
(G)
a broker or dealer registered with the Securities and Exchange Commission under the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 (15 U.S.C. 78a et seq.);
(H)
a broker or dealer in securities or commodities;
(I)
an investment banker or investment company;
(J)
a currency exchange, or a business engaged in the exchange of currency, funds, or value that substitutes for currency or funds;
(K)
an issuer, redeemer, or cashier of travelers’ checks, checks, money orders, or similar instruments;
(L)
an operator of a credit card system;
(M)
an insurance company;
(N)
a dealer in precious metals, stones, or jewels;
(O)
a pawnbroker;
(P)
a loan or finance company;
(Q)
a travel agency;
(R)
a licensed sender of money or any other person who engages as a business in the transmission of currency, funds, or value that substitutes for currency, including any person who engages as a business in an informal money transfer system or any network of people who engage as a business in facilitating the transfer of money domestically or internationally outside of the conventional financial institutions system;
(S)
a telegraph company;
(T)
a business engaged in vehicle sales, including automobile, airplane, and boat sales;
(U)
persons involved in real estate closings and settlements;
(V)
the United States Postal Service;
(W)
an agency of the United States Government or of a State or local government carrying out a duty or power of a business described in this paragraph;
(X) a casino, gambling casino, or gaming establishment with an annual gaming revenue of more than $1,000,000 which—
(i)
is licensed as a casino, gambling casino, or gaming establishment under the laws of any State or any political subdivision of any State; or
(ii)
is an Indian gaming operation conducted under or pursuant to the Indian Gaming Regulatory Act other than an operation which is limited to class I gaming (as defined in section 4(6) of such Act);
(Y)
any business or agency which engages in any activity which the Secretary of the Treasury determines, by regulation, to be an activity which is similar to, related to, or a substitute for any activity in which any business described in this paragraph is authorized to engage; or
(Z)
any other business designated by the Secretary whose cash transactions have a high degree of usefulness in criminal, tax, or regulatory matters.