Number: RS21547
Title: Financial Institution Customer Identification Programs Mandated by the USA PATRIOT Act
Authors: M. Maureen Murphy, American Law Division 
Abstract: The USA PATRIOT Act, P.L. 107-56, section 326, 31 U.S.C. Section 5318(1), requires the Secretary of the Treasury to prescribe minimum standards for financial institutions to use in verifying the identify of customers opening new accounts. The 9/11 Commission Report included some information about the use of bank accounts by terrorists and raised questions about further sharing of information among government agencies, and the use of biometric identifiers for foreign travelers, that may eventually have an impact on the CIP program. Related CRS reports include CRS Report RL32094, Consular Identification Cards: Domestic and Foreign Policy Implications, the Mexican Case, and Related Legislation; CRS Report RS21627, Implication of the Vienna Convention on Consular Relations Upon the Regulation of Consular Identification Cards; CRS Report RL31377, The USA PATRIOT ACT: A Legal Analysis; CRS Report RL31208, The International Money Laundering Abatement and Anti-Terrorist Financing Act of 2001, Title III of P.L. 107-56 (USA PATRIOT Act); and CRS Report RS21032, Money Laundering: Current Law and Proposals.
Pages: 6
Date: September 27, 2004