I could not find any FinCEN guidance about this:

Western Union agent receives money transfer and pays it out in two Western Union money orders, one for $1000 and one for $315. Agent then cashes the money orders for the customer.

Is this a check cashing transaction that would require registration as an MSB or would it be looked as a round-about way of paying out the transfer and therefore, not require registration because of his agent status? If he had paid out the transfer in cash, it would not have required registration as an MSB because of his agent status.

I would equate that to the questions posed to FinCEN about whether a RAL check issued and cashed by tax preparer would qualify the tax preparer as an MSB. In FinCEN's 3/2006 Q&A they said:

3. If a tax preparer business only cashes its own tax refund anticipation loan checks for taxpayers for whom it has prepared tax returns, is it a money services business?

If Business C, an income tax preparer business, issues a tax refund anticipation loan check to a taxpayer for whom it has prepared a tax return, and only cashes that tax refund anticipation loan check for the taxpayer, is Business C a money services business if the payment exceeds $1,000 per person per day in one or more transactions?

Answer: Business C does not meet the Bank Secrecy Act definition of a check casher if it only cashes its own tax refund anticipation loan checks for taxpayers for whom it has prepared tax returns. This activity is equivalent to disbursing loan proceeds with cash. In this instance, the check is used as further documentation of the loan transaction. Thus, we would not consider the business to be “engaged in the business of a check casher” solely for engaging in this activity.

However, if the business cashed checks other than its own tax refund anticipation loan checks in an amount exceeding $1,000 for any person in one day in one or more transactions, the business would be defined as a check casher under the Bank Secrecy Act and be required to register as a money services business and be obligated to comply with all applicable Bank Secrecy Act programmatic, recordkeeping, and reporting requirements.

I agree. I read those and indeed, the situations all sound similar. Thanks.

While Brenda's response made perfect sense to me, I called the FinCEN Helpline for verification. They offered the same rationale and conclusion.

Thanks for the help.