The term 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;
- (k) An issuer, redeemer, or cashier of travelers' checks, checks, money orders, or similar instruments;
- (l) An insurance company;
- (m) A dealer in precious metals, stones, or jewels;
- (n) A loan or finance company;
- (o) A licensed sender of money or any other person who engages as a business in the transmission of funds 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;
- (p) A business engaged in vehicle sales, including automobile, airplane, and boat sales;
- (q) 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
- (r) Any other business designated by the Secretary whose cash transactions have a high degree of usefulness in criminal, tax, or regulatory matters.