What This Bill Does
This bill requires the Secretary of the Treasury to publish a report on money held by senior Chinese Communist Party officials in financial institutions. It also prohibits United States financial institutions from doing business with these officials and their immediate families if they benefit from the reported funds.
Who It Affects
Members of the Politburo Standing Committee of the Chinese Communist Party, members of the Politburo, and members of the Central Committee who directly or indirectly affect Taiwan, their immediate family members, United States financial institutions, and foreign financial institutions that serve these officials.
Key Provisions
• The Secretary of the Treasury must submit a report within 90 days of the President notifying Congress of a threat from China, and then annually for 3 years. The report covers at least 10 senior Chinese officials and lists estimated total funds they hold in financial institutions plus which financial institutions maintain accounts for them. (Sec. 2(a)(1))
• Within 30 days of submitting the report, the Secretary of the Treasury must brief Congress on how the funds were acquired, including whether illegal or corrupt methods were used. (Sec. 2(a)(2))
• The Secretary of the Treasury shall prohibit United States financial institutions from engaging in significant transactions with the officials named in the report and their immediate family members if those family members benefit from the reported funds. (Sec. 3(a))
• The unclassified portion of the Treasury report must be made available to the public on the Department of the Treasury website and social media in English, Chinese, and other appropriate languages in downloadable formats. (Sec. 2(c)(2))
• The President can waive these requirements if the waiver would substantially promote ending the threat, the threat is no longer present, or the waiver is essential to national security. (Sec. 2(a)(4) and Sec. 3(b)(2))
What Changes
If this law passes, the Treasury Department must begin tracking and publicly reporting on financial assets held by high-ranking Chinese Communist Party officials. United States banks and financial companies will be prohibited from providing services to these officials and their families who benefit from the reported funds. Congress will receive confidential briefings about how these officials acquired their wealth.
Important Definitions
The bill defines "immediate family" to include a person's spouse, father, mother, children, brothers, sisters, grandchildren, and the spouse's parents and siblings, plus the spouses of a person's children, siblings, or extended family. A "financial institution" means either a United States financial institution or a foreign financial institution. The Secretary of the Treasury defines what counts as "funds" for this law.
IIB
118TH CONGRESS
2D SESSION
H. R. 554
IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES
SEPTEMBER 10, 2024
Received; read twice and referred to the Committee on Banking, Housing, and
Urban Affairs
AN ACT
To deter Chinese aggression towards Taiwan by requiring
the Secretary of the Treasury to publish a report on
financial institutions and accounts connected to senior
officials of the People’s Republic of China, to restrict
financial services for certain immediate family of such
officials, and for other purposes.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-
1
tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled,
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SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.
1
This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Taiwan Conflict Deter-
2
rence Act of 2023’’.
3
SEC. 2. REPORT ON FINANCIAL INSTITUTIONS AND AC-
4
COUNTS CONNECTED TO CERTAIN CHINESE
5
GOVERNMENT OFFICIALS.
6
(a) FINANCIAL INSTITUTIONS REPORT.—
7
(1) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 90 days after
8
the date that the President, pursuant to section 3(c)
9
of the Taiwan Relations Act (22 U.S.C. 3302(c)),
10
informs the Congress of a threat resulting from ac-
11
tions of the People’s Republic of China and any dan-
12
ger to the interests of the United States arising
13
therefrom, and annually thereafter for 3 years, the
14
Secretary of the Treasury shall submit a report to
15
the appropriate Members of Congress containing the
16
following:
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(A) With respect to each of at least 10
18
natural persons described under subsection (b),
19
at least 1 of whom is a natural person listed
20
under paragraph (1) of such subsection (b) and
21
at least 1 of whom is a natural person listed
22
under paragraph (2) of such subsection (b), the
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estimated total funds that are held in financial
24
institutions and are under direct or indirect
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control by such natural person and a descrip-
1
tion of such funds.
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(B) A list of any financial institutions
3
that—
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(i) maintain an account in connection
5
with significant funds described in sub-
6
paragraph (A); or
7
(ii) otherwise provide significant fi-
8
nancial services to a natural person cov-
9
ered by the report.
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(2) BRIEFING REQUIRED.—Not later than 30
11
days after submitting a report described under para-
12
graph (1), the Secretary of the Treasury, or a des-
13
ignee of the Secretary, shall provide to the appro-
14
priate Members of Congress an unclassified or clas-
15
sified briefing (as determined appropriate by the
16
Secretary) on the funds covered by the report, in-
17
cluding a description of how the funds were ac-
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quired, and any illicit or corrupt means employed to
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acquire or use the funds.
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(3) EXEMPTIONS.—The requirements described
21
under paragraph (1) may not be applied with re-
22
spect to a natural person or a financial institution,
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as the case may be, if the President determines:
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(A) The funds described under paragraph
1
(1)(A) were primarily acquired through legal
2
and noncorrupt means.
3
(B) The natural person has agreed to pro-
4
vide significant cooperation to the United
5
States for an important national security pur-
6
pose with respect to China.
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(C) A financial institution has agreed to—
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(i) no longer maintain an account de-
9
scribed under paragraph (1)(B)(i);
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(ii) no longer provide significant fi-
11
nancial services to a natural person cov-
12
ered by the report; or
13
(iii) provide significant cooperation to
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the United States for an important na-
15
tional security purpose with respect to
16
China.
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(4) WAIVER.—The President may waive any re-
18
quirement described under paragraph (1) with re-
19
spect to a natural person or a financial institution
20
upon reporting to the appropriate Members of Con-
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gress that—
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(A) the waiver would substantially promote
23
the objective of ending the threat described
24
under paragraph (1);
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(B) the threat described under paragraph
1
(1) is no longer present; or
2
(C) the waiver is essential to the national
3
security interests of the United States.
4
(b) NATURAL PERSONS DESCRIBED.—The natural
5
persons described in this subsection are persons who, at
6
the time of a report, are the following:
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(1) A member of the Politburo Standing Com-
8
mittee of the Chinese Communist Party.
9
(2) A member of the Politburo of the Chinese
10
Communist Party that is not described under para-
11
graph (1).
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(3) A member of the Central Committee of the
13
Chinese Communist Party that—
14
(A) is none of the foregoing; and
15
(B) performs any official duty that directly
16
or indirectly affects Taiwan.
17
(c) FORM OF REPORTS; PUBLIC AVAILABILITY.—
18
(1) FORM.—The reports required under para-
19
graphs (1) and (4) of subsection (a) shall be sub-
20
mitted in unclassified form but may contain a classi-
21
fied annex.
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(2) PUBLIC AVAILABILITY.—The Secretary of
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the Treasury shall make the unclassified portion of
24
the report required under subsection (a)(1) available
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to the public on the website and social media ac-
1
counts of the Department of the Treasury—
2
(A) in English, Chinese, and any other lan-
3
guage that the Secretary finds appropriate; and
4
(B) in precompressed, easily downloadable
5
versions that are made available in all appro-
6
priate formats.
7
SEC. 3. PROHIBITION ON FINANCIAL SERVICES FOR CER-
8
TAIN IMMEDIATE FAMILY.
9
(a) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary of the Treasury
10
shall prohibit a United States financial institution, and
11
any person owned or controlled by a United States finan-
12
cial institution, from engaging in a significant transaction
13
with—
14
(1) a natural person covered by a report made
15
under section 2(a); and
16
(2) the immediate family of a person described
17
under paragraph (1), if the Secretary finds that
18
such immediate family benefits from funds described
19
in the report.
20
(b) EXCEPTIONS.—
21
(1) EXCEPTION FOR INTELLIGENCE, LAW EN-
22
FORCEMENT,
AND
NATIONAL
SECURITY
ACTIVI-
23
TIES.—Subsection (a) shall not apply with respect to
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any intelligence, law enforcement, or national secu-
1
rity activity of the United States.
2
(2) WAIVER.—The President may waive the ap-
3
plication of subsection (a) with respect to a person
4
upon reporting to the appropriate Members of Con-
5
gress that—
6
(A) the waiver would substantially promote
7
the objective of ending the threat described
8
under section 2(a)(1);
9
(B) the threat described under section
10
2(a)(1) is no longer present; or
11
(C) the waiver is essential to the national
12
security interests of the United States.
13
(3) FORM OF REPORTS.—The reports required
14
under paragraph (2) shall be submitted in unclassi-
15
fied form but may contain a classified annex.
16
(4) RULE OF CONSTRUCTION.—
17
(A) IN GENERAL.—Nothing in this section
18
shall be construed as authorizing or requiring
19
any sanction with respect to the importation of
20
any good.
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(B) GOOD DEFINED.—In this paragraph,
22
the term ‘‘good’’ means any article, natural or
23
manmade substance, material, supply or manu-
24
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factured product, including inspection and test
1
equipment, and excluding technical data.
2
(c) IMPLEMENTATION; PENALTIES.—
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(1) IMPLEMENTATION.—The President may ex-
4
ercise all authorities provided to the President under
5
sections 203 and 205 of the International Emer-
6
gency Economic Powers Act (50 U.S.C. 1702 and
7
1704) to carry out this section. Not later than 60
8
days after issuing a license pursuant to this section,
9
the President shall submit a copy of the license to
10
the appropriate Members of Congress.
11
(2) PENALTIES.—A person that violates, at-
12
tempts to violate, conspires to violate, or causes a
13
violation of this section or any regulation, license, or
14
order issued to carry out this section shall be subject
15
to the penalties set forth in subsections (b) and (c)
16
of section 206 of the International Emergency Eco-
17
nomic Powers Act (50 U.S.C. 1705) to the same ex-
18
tent as a person that commits an unlawful act de-
19
scribed in subsection (a) of that section 206.
20
(d) TERMINATION.—This section shall have no force
21
or effect on the earlier of—
22
(1) the date that is 30 days after the date that
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the President reports to the appropriate Members of
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Congress that the threat described under section
1
2(a)(1) is no longer present; or
2
(2) the date that is 25 years after the date that
3
the Secretary of the Treasury submits the final re-
4
port required under section 2(a)(1).
5
SEC. 4. DEFINITIONS.
6
For purposes of this Act:
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(1) APPROPRIATE MEMBERS OF CONGRESS.—
8
The term ‘‘appropriate Members of Congress’’
9
means the Speaker and minority leader of the House
10
of Representatives, the majority leader and minority
11
leader of the Senate, the Chairman and Ranking
12
Member of the Committee on Financial Services of
13
the House of Representatives, and the Chairman
14
and Ranking Member of the Committee on Banking,
15
Housing, and Urban Affairs of the Senate.
16
(2) FINANCIAL
INSTITUTION.—The term ‘‘fi-
17
nancial institution’’ means a United States financial
18
institution or a foreign financial institution.
19
(3) FOREIGN
FINANCIAL
INSTITUTION.—The
20
term ‘‘foreign financial institution’’ has the meaning
21
given that term in section 561.308 of title 31, Code
22
of Federal Regulations.
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(4) FUNDS.—The term ‘‘funds’’ has the mean-
1
ing given to such term by the Secretary of the
2
Treasury.
3
(5) IMMEDIATE FAMILY.—The term ‘‘immediate
4
family’’ of any natural person means the following
5
(whether by the full or half blood or by adoption):
6
(A) Such person’s spouse, father, mother,
7
children, brothers, sisters, and grandchildren.
8
(B) The father, mother, brothers, and sis-
9
ters of such person’s spouse.
10
(C) The spouse of a child, brother, or sis-
11
ter of such person.
12
(6) UNITED STATES FINANCIAL INSTITUTION.—
13
The term ‘‘United States financial institution’’ has
14
the meaning given the term ‘‘U.S. financial institu-
15
tion’’ under section 561.309 of title 31, Code of
16
Federal Regulations.
17
Passed the House of Representatives September 9,
2024.
Attest:
KEVIN F. MCCUMBER,
Clerk.
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