Donald Trump is considering a possible executive order that would require banks to make sure customers are U.S. citizens to create or keep their accounts, according to a new report.
The proposed action, reported byThe Wall Street Journal, would see banks collect information on individuals’ citizenship through requests for a new category of documents in order to open the accounts.
The Independent has contacted the White House for confirmation or further information about reports of the executive order, which has reportedly raised eyebrows among some banks in recent days.
“Any reporting about potential policymaking that has not been officially announced by the White House is baseless speculation,” a White House spokesperson told The Journal.
Imposing such customer verification steps on banks would be a new angle on the Trump administration’s heavy-handed crackdown on immigration enforcement, aimed at rooting out people who are currently living in the U.S. illegally.
To open a bank account in the U.S., individuals must provide documentation including passports and social security numbers to guard against financial crime. However banks are currently not required to collect information on citizenship status or share it with the government.
As such, there is currently no restriction on non-citizens over opening U.S. bank accounts.
The administration is also weighing up having the Treasury Department’s Financial Crimes Enforcement Network, which covers national anti-money-laundering and counterterrorism financing laws, collect information on citizens, The Journal reports. Those laws require banks to flag large cash transactions or transactions that appear suspicious to FinCEN.
The administration recently used those laws to target a welfare fraud scheme in Minnesota involving dozens of Minnesotans of Somali descent, the Journal reports. That incident led to the moving of hundreds of national guard soldiers to Minneapolis – and ultimately resulted in the death of two protesters in January.
That same month, FinCEN issued an order to make banks and money transmitters in two Minnesota counties log information about overseas transactions for more than $3,000. The threshold is currently $10,000, which is already considered too low by some banks
