2.96 Structuring Transactions to Evade Reporting Requirements / 31 U.S.C. Sec. 5324(a)(3) is a law that prohibits individuals or entities from attempting to evade reporting requirements by structuring their financial transactions. Specifically, this law prohibits people from breaking up financial transactions into smaller amounts to avoid triggering the federal government’s reporting requirements, such as filing Currency Transaction Reports (Cars). This law applies to all financial institutions, such as banks, casinos, and other financial services companies. There are two types of structuring transactions to evade reporting requirements: structured deposits and structured withdrawals. Structured deposits involve breaking up a large deposit into multiple smaller deposits over a period of time in order to avoid the federal government’s reporting requirements. Structured withdrawals are the opposite — breaking up a large withdrawal into multiple smaller withdrawals over a period of time to avoid the reporting requirements. The penalty for violating this law can be up to five years in prison and a fine of up to $250,000, or both.