Overview
- The Treasury formalized guidance Friday that expands use of Patriot Act information‑sharing to let banks exchange surveillance footage, IP addresses and other cyber identifiers in real time with other banks and federal investigators.
- FinCEN issued a nonbinding advisory listing about 18 red flags tied to payroll‑fraud, shell companies, labor brokers and identity theft that it says banks should spot and report.
- The actions implement parts of President Trump’s May 19 executive order to strengthen customer due diligence and to incorporate immigration‑status indicators into KYC checks while stopping short of legally requiring banks to collect citizenship data.
- Regulators have already used targeted tools such as Geographic Targeting Orders to lower reporting thresholds in specific areas, for example triggering $3,000 reporting on some Minnesota international transfers.
- Banks and immigrant advocates warn the guidance will raise compliance burdens, risk higher supervisory penalties for noncompliance, and could push undocumented customers out of the formal banking system and disrupt remittances and MSB services.