USA Patriot Act - Section 326
107th CONGRESS
1st Session
H. R. 3162
IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES
October 24, 2001
SEC. 326. VERIFICATION OF IDENTIFICATION.
(a) IN GENERAL- Section 5318 of title 31, United States
Code, as amended by this title, is amended by adding at the end
the following:
(l) IDENTIFICATION AND VERIFICATION OF
ACCOUNTHOLDERS-
(1) IN GENERAL- Subject to the requirements of this
subsection, the Secretary of the Treasury shall prescribe
regulations setting forth the minimum standards for
financial institutions and their customers regarding the
identity of the customer that shall apply in connection with
the opening of an account at a financial institution.
(2) MINIMUM REQUIREMENTS- The regulations shall, at a
minimum, require financial institutions to implement, and
customers (after being given adequate notice) to comply
with, reasonable procedures for--
(A) verifying the identity of any person seeking to
open an account to the extent reasonable and
practicable;
(B) maintaining records of the information used to
verify a person's identity, including name, address, and
other identifying information; and
(C) consulting lists of known or suspected
terrorists or terrorist organizations provided to the
financial institution by any government agency to
determine whether a person seeking to open an account
appears on any such list.
(3) FACTORS TO BE CONSIDERED- In prescribing
regulations under this subsection, the Secretary shall take
into consideration the various types of accounts maintained
by various types of financial institutions, the various
methods of opening accounts, and the various types of
identifying information available.
(4) CERTAIN FINANCIAL INSTITUTIONS- In the case of any
financial institution the business of which is engaging in
financial activities described in section 4(k) of the Bank
Holding Company Act of 1956 (including financial activities
subject to the jurisdiction of the Commodity Futures Trading
Commission), the regulations prescribed by the Secretary
under paragraph (1) shall be prescribed jointly with each
Federal functional regulator (as defined in section 509 of
the Gramm-Leach-Bliley Act, including the Commodity Futures
Trading Commission) appropriate for such financial
institution.
(5) EXEMPTIONS- The Secretary (and, in the case of any
financial institution described in paragraph (4), any
Federal agency described in such paragraph) may, by
regulation or order, exempt any financial institution or
type of account from the requirements of any regulation
prescribed under this subsection in accordance with such
standards and procedures as the Secretary may
prescribe.
(6) EFFECTIVE DATE- Final regulations prescribed under
this subsection shall take effect before the end of the
1-year period beginning on the date of enactment of the
International Money Laundering Abatement and Financial
Anti-Terrorism Act of 2001.
(b) STUDY AND REPORT REQUIRED- Within 6 months after the
date of enactment of this Act, the Secretary, in consultation
with the Federal functional regulators (as defined in section
509 of the Gramm-Leach-Bliley Act) and other appropriate
Government agencies, shall submit a report to the Congress
containing recommendations for--
(1) determining the most timely and effective way to
require foreign nationals to provide domestic financial
institutions and agencies with appropriate and accurate
information, comparable to that which is required of United
States nationals, concerning the identity, address, and
other related information about such foreign nationals
necessary to enable such institutions and agencies to comply
with the requirements of this section;
(2) requiring foreign nationals to apply for and obtain,
before opening an account with a domestic financial
institution, an identification number which would function
similarly to a Social Security number or tax identification
number; and
(3) establishing a system for domestic financial
institutions and agencies to review information maintained
by relevant Government agencies for purposes of verifying
the identities of foreign nationals seeking to open accounts
at those institutions and agencies.
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