No. 21-1195October Term 2022Decided Feb 28, 2023
Bittner v. United States
Alexandru Bittner challenged a $2.72 million fine for failing to report his foreign bank accounts, arguing the penalty should be assessed per unfiled report rather than per unreported account.
Case status
- Current stage
- Decided
- Latest event
- Decision released Feb 28, 2023
- What it's about
Alexandru Bittner challenged a $2.72 million fine for failing to report his foreign bank accounts, arguing the penalty should be assessed per unfiled report rather than per unreported account. The Supreme Court agreed, ruling that the Bank Secrecy Act's $10,000 maximum penalty for nonwillful violations applies on a per-report basis.
Question presented
Is a “violation” under the Bank Secrecy Act the failure to file an annual Report of Foreign Bank and Financial Accounts (no matter the number of foreign accounts), or is there a separate violation for each individual account that was not properly reported?
- Case path
United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit / Decision released Feb 28, 2023
- Area
Decided Supreme Court case
Documents
Related cases
Grounding
- Grounding
- Primary-source trail available.
- Note
- Plain-English explainer. Official filings and opinions remain authoritative.
- Checked
- Mar 30, 2026
- Method
- Methodology