Regulatory Alerts2008-01-10
Added
Ruling on Whether Cashing Checks to Repay Customer Obligations Constitutes a Money Services Business
FinCEN determined that a business cashing checks payable to customers to apply proceeds to the repayment of customers' obligations is not a money services business and is not required to register with FinCEN. This ruling applies to a client whose check cashing activities are ancillary to retail automobile sales and subject to a written policy limiting transactions to $1,000 per person per day, with exceptions for payroll checks and customer obligations where the net amount is less than $1,000. The decision relies on the Bank Secrec Act definition of a check casher and prior guidance stating that businesses implementing written policies to exclude themselves from the money services business definition need not register.