Thursday, May 19, 2005
Bank reporting
Unbeknownst to a lot of Americans (although not the readers of my book, grin), a fair portion of bank transactions get reported to the US Government. And given recent news, we can expect more.
The Treasury Department is working on a plan to require banks to share records on all international wire transfers. Estimates are that this would cover over half a billion transactions. While the administration wants to complete the plan by the end of the year, banks are already responding…they are giving the government a lot more information than they used to.
Because banks can be prosecuted for withholding information, a New York Times article by Eric Lichtblau on the proposed wire transfer regulations cites banking officials as saying that banks are filing record numbers of Suspicious Activity Reports. These reports simply identify transactions or customers who appear suspicious to the bank. And by the law that created them, banks cannot tell you if they file one on you.
The Treasury Department is working on a plan to require banks to share records on all international wire transfers. Estimates are that this would cover over half a billion transactions. While the administration wants to complete the plan by the end of the year, banks are already responding…they are giving the government a lot more information than they used to.
Because banks can be prosecuted for withholding information, a New York Times article by Eric Lichtblau on the proposed wire transfer regulations cites banking officials as saying that banks are filing record numbers of Suspicious Activity Reports. These reports simply identify transactions or customers who appear suspicious to the bank. And by the law that created them, banks cannot tell you if they file one on you.
# posted by AmandaWelsh @ 9:21 AM 
