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.