Thread: B of A says it's complying with the Patriot Act

Most banks are citing compliance with Sections 352 and 326 of the Patriot Act. Section 326 is entitled Customer Identification Program. So I looked it up and here it is in PDF form:

http://www.compliancesystems.com/USA...TACT5_2003.pdf

Pay special attention to the part under "Verification of Customer Identification" dealing with non-documentary verification. It didnt' let me copy so all I can do is post the link.

Section 352 if you want to read it deals with Terrorism and money laundering etc. The most interesting thing I saw was that under "Protecting the Border" only protecting the Northern border is listed in the summary. I haven't had a chance to read the whole document yet.

http://www.epic.org/privacy/terroris...ot/RL31200.pdf

Well, that doesn't really require much of anything, because while it does provide for the use of a government-issued ID providing citizenship or residency information, it goes on to provide other alterntive means for verifying identity. In short, it appears that a bank manager could claim to know the guy personally or through another customer and still comply.

For those that wish to read the entire document---TEXT IN ENTIRETY

USA PATRIOT ACT, SECTION 326 – CUSTOMER IDENTIFICATION PROGRAM
May 2003
The joint final rules for section 326 of the USA PATRIOT Act have been adopted by the federal regulators on April
30, 2003. The rules become effective 30 days from the date they are published in the Federal Register, and
compliance is mandatory by October 1, 2003.
CIP Requirements.
The final rules provide that banks must collect certain information and verify the identity of customers who open
new accounts. Banks must implement Customer Identification Programs (CIPs) that include procedures to verify
customer identity, using certain required information, within a reasonable time after the account is opened. That
information must be documented and retained for a specified period of time, and the identity of customers who open
a new account must be compared to a government list of known or suspected terrorists or terrorist organizations.
The final rules also require banks to give customers adequate notice of the banks’ requirements to verify customer
identity pursuant to its CIP.
Under the final rules, banks must verify the identity of a customer who opens a new account. “Customers” are
people who open a new account and includes all joint account holders. This includes people who open a new
account in a fiduciary capacity, and people who open new accounts for an entity that is not a legal person, such as a
civic club. Section 326 defines “account” as a formal banking relationship, including deposit, transaction or asset
accounts, other extensions of credit, providing safety deposit boxes or other safekeeping services, cash management,
and custodian and trust services. Isolated transactions such as check cashing, or the sale of money orders or checks
are not within the scope of the definition of accounts.
Verification of Customer Identification.
To verify the identity of a customer, a bank’s CIP must include procedures to utilize documentary verification and
non-documentary verification. The rule gives the following examples of documentary verification: for individuals,
an unexpired government-issued identification that shows the nationality or residence and has a photo or similar
safeguard such as a driver’s license or passport. If the customer is an entity other than an individual, documents
such as certified articles of incorporation, a business license issued by a governmental entity, a partnership
agreement, or trust instrument may be used.
Non-documentary verification could include direct customer contact, independent verification of the customer’s
identity by comparing information given by the customer with information obtained from a consumer credit
reporting agency, public database or other source, by checking references with other financial institutions, or
obtaining the customer’s financial statement. The bank’s procedures for non-documentary verification must take
into consideration situations where an individual is not able to provide current government-issued identification
documents with a photo or other safeguard or where the bank is unfamiliar with the documents presented by a
customer, when the account is opened without obtaining any documents from the customer, when a customer opens
an account other than in-person at the bank, and any time the bank is in a situation that increases the risk that the
bank will not be able to verify the true identity of the customer with documentation.
The CIP must address what procedures the bank will follow in a situation where it cannot form a reasonable belief
that it knows the true identity of the customer. These procedures should include when a bank should not open an
account, the terms and conditions by which a customer may use an account while the bank is in the process of
verifying the customer’s identity, when the bank should close a customer’s account if attempts to verify the
customer’s identity have been unsuccessful, and when the bank should file a Suspicious Activity Report as required
by applicable law and regulation.
Comparison with government lists.
The bank’s CIP must include procedures to determine if the customer appears on any list of suspected or known
terrorists or terrorist organizations issued by a Federal government agency as designated by the Treasury
Department in consultation with Federal functional regulators. The CIP must state that the determination be made in
a reasonable period of time after the account is opened, or at any earlier time if required by Federal law, regulation
or any directives issued by the Federal government that apply to such lists. Presently, the Treasury and regulators
have not designated any lists under this provision.
Record Retention Requirements.
The bank’s CIP must contain procedures for making and maintaining a record of all the information received under
the procedures verifying customer identity. These records may be in paper or an appropriate electronic format. At a
minimum, the records must include all identifying information about a customer, a description of documents relied
on in obtaining the information, any identification number, place of issuance, date of issuance, and expiration date if
available. Banks must keep a record of what verification methods were utilized. A record must also be kept
describing the resolution of any substantive discrepancy discovered during the process of verifying identifying
information.
Records of information received using documentary verification of customer identity for must be retained for five
years from the date the account is closed, or five years after the account is closed or becomes dormant in the case of
credit card accounts. The bank must retain records of which documents were relied on, the results of measures taken
to verify the identity of a customer under the bank’s non-documentary procedures, and records of how substantive
discrepancies discovered while verifying customer identity were resolved, for five years from the time the record
was made.
Notice to Customers of Identity Verification Requirements.
Section 326 requires banks to provide customers with adequate notice that the bank is requesting information to
verify their identity. Notice is adequate if the bank gives a general description of the identification requirements,
and gives the customer a notice in a way that is designed to reasonably ensure that customers can see the notice or it
is given in way that customers know about it before opening an account. The bank could post the notice in its lobby,
on its website, include it on its account applications, or provide some other form of written or oral notice.
What this means to you.
Compliance Systems, Inc. is in the process of identifying products and services that are impacted by these final USA
PATRIOT Act, Section 326 rules. We will continue to provide you with further information as the identification and
integration process goes forward. CSi is committed to working with you, our Business Partners and Customers, to
determine how we can best provide necessary compliance solutions for you to ensure timely compliance by the
October 1, 2003 compliance date.

What is really amazing about this document is that there really is no hard ID needed at all! Mere database matches, "personal knowledge", or "vouching" are acceptable!

So are we to understand that any person presenting this Mexican Matricula card is really indeed a Mexican Citizen?

Or can we safely state that there are many tens of thousands of individuals who are using this card that do not qualify for it in the first place? So who is actually comparing this "information" to ascertain the legitimacy of depositors?

Moreover, what is the point of checking ID's, when the ID is not a necessity! As we can see, the banks are only interested in getting their hands on 26 BILLION IN ILLEGAL TRANSFERS, AND THE FEES THAT ARE ATTENDANT TO SAID TRANSFERS!

Not to mention that fractional reserve banking allows these institutions to lend at a rate of 10 times the funds deposited! Thus, they create 260 BILLION dollars in loans (most going right back to illegals for illegal cars, illegal houses, and illegal credit cards!

And here is the loophole big enough to drive $26 BILLION in funds through;

Isolated transactions such as check cashing, or the sale of money orders or checks are not within the scope of the definition of accounts.

Once again, the only ones being harassed and forced to "comply" are legal U.S Citizens---go figure!

You can't "verify the identity of the undocumented".

If they are using the Matricula, that's a joke because they were handing them out every 2 seconds in CO.

Dixie

That's because none of this is about protecting Americans. It's just a ruse to get us to tighten the nooses around our own necks.

Hey, little American froggy, did you even notice the water in the boiling pot you're sitting in when it started bubbling?

Legal or not, what BoA's doing sucks.

DOWN WITH BANK OF AMERICA!

had_enuf wrote:

DOWN WITH BANK OF AMERICA!

The good thing is a unified effort from the American people can bring BOA DOWN!!!!

Throw in Wells Fargo too....

With all the fraud going on with these illegals, they get anything they want here...I guess the Mexican rich are happy we are supporting their failures.