The Treasury Department on June 12 released new guidelines that enable banks to share customer information with greater ease when they suspect fraud, money laundering, terrorist financing, and other criminal activity.
The guidelines outline the circumstances under which financial institutions can exchange data in real time, while protected from liability, to improve the identification and reporting of suspected crime.
A Treasury Department fact sheet issued on June 12 says participation is voluntary but strongly encouraged.
It lists types of information that financial institutions can share, including video surveillance footage, IP addresses, and “fraud indicators like newly added payees followed by large transfers, multiple accounts with the same or similar identifying information, and login activity from geographically distant places.”
Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent stressed the need to fight fraud.
Banks are not required to collect citizenship information upfront, as the guidance calls upon institutions to identify suspicious patterns and report illicit activity.
The newer guidance is part of a broader push to expand the use of SARs and information sharing in this area.
“And I don’t think it’s unreasonable, because, why don’t we have information on who’s in our banking system?” he told the Semafor news platform in an April 13 interview.
“I have a place in the UK; they want to know who lives in every apartment—and how do we know that it’s not part of a foreign terrorist organization?” he said.
