136
Opinion of the Court
defense to a criminal charge, for Congress may decree otherwise in particular contexts, and has done so in the present instance. Pp. 140-149. 976 F. 2d 1280, reversed and remanded.
Ginsburg, J., delivered the opinion of the Court, in which Stevens, Scalia, Kennedy, and Souter, JJ., joined. Blackmun, J., filed a dissenting opinion, in which Rehnquist, C. J., and O'Connor and Thomas, JJ., joined, post, p. 150.
Stephen Robert LaCheen argued the cause for petitioners. With him on the briefs were Anne M. Dixon, Peter Goldberger, Pamela A. Wilk, James H. Feldman, Jr., Kevin O'Connell, and Christopher H. Kent.
Paul J. Larkin, Jr., argued the cause for the United States. On the brief were Solicitor General Days, Acting Assistant Attorney General Keeney, Deputy Solicitor General Bryson, John F. Manning, and Richard A. Friedman.*
Justice Ginsburg delivered the opinion of the Court. Federal law requires banks and other financial institutions to file reports with the Secretary of the Treasury whenever they are involved in a cash transaction that exceeds $10,000. 31 U. S. C. § 5313; 31 CFR § 103.22(a) (1993). It is illegal to "structure" transactions—i. e., to break up a single transaction above the reporting threshold into two or more separate transactions—for the purpose of evading a financial institution's reporting requirement. 31 U. S. C. § 5324. "A person willfully violating" this antistructuring provision is subject to criminal penalties. § 5322. This case presents a question on which Courts of Appeals have divided: Does a defendant's purpose to circumvent a bank's reporting obligation suffice to sustain a conviction for "willfully violating" the antistructuring provision? 1 We hold that the "willfulness"
*Alan Zarky filed a brief for the National Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers as amicus curiae urging reversal.
1 Compare, e. g., United States v. Scanio, 900 F. 2d 485, 491 (CA2 1990) ("proof that the defendant knew that structuring is unlawful" is not re-
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