Record
Case file
1986-10-27
U.S. Government Publishing Office (govinfo), United States Statutes at Large, vol. 100
Money Laundering Control Act of 1986: Subtitle H of Title I of Public Law 99-570, 100 Stat. 3207-18, adding 18 U.S.C. 1956
Subtitle H of the 1986 drug act, "the 'Money Laundering Control Act of 1986'", added 18 U.S.C. 1956, which made it a crime to conduct a financial transaction with the proceeds of specified unlawful activity to promote that activity, conceal the proceeds, or avoid a reporting requirement.
- Date
- 1986-10-27
- Kind
- case-file
- Retrieved
- 2026-10-12
- Docket
- 100 Stat. 3207-18 (Pub. L. 99-570; H.R. 5484), Subtitle H, secs. 1351-1357
- Rights
- An Act of Congress, a federal work in the public domain under 17 U.S.C. § 105. The text was read from the Statutes at Large PDF published by the U.S. Government Publishing Office on govinfo.
Public Law 99-570 (H.R. 5484), dated October 27, 1986, begins at 100 Stat. 3207; its first page prints the long title “An Act To strengthen Federal efforts to encourage foreign cooperation in eradicating illicit drug crops” and more. Subtitle H of Title I, on the page numbered 3207-18, may be cited as the “Money Laundering Control Act of 1986”.
Section 1352 adds 18 U.S.C. 1956. Subsection (a)(1) reaches “Whoever, knowing that the property involved in a financial transaction represents the proceeds of some form of unlawful activity, conducts or attempts to conduct such a financial transaction which in fact involves the proceeds of specified unlawful activity” (100 Stat. 3207-18), with intent to promote that activity, or knowing that the transaction is designed to conceal or disguise the nature, location, source, ownership or control of the proceeds or to avoid a reporting requirement. The penalty is a fine of not more than $500,000 or twice the value of the property involved, whichever is greater, imprisonment of not more than twenty years, or both.
FinCEN’s Bank Secrecy Act timeline gives the context in one line: “Law Enforcement looks for new weapons to combat drug trafficking Enact Money Laundering Control Act”. The name “Anti-Drug Abuse Act of 1986” is the usual title of Public Law 99-570 and is not relied on here. Section 1957 and the subtitle’s forfeiture provisions were not read.