WASHINGTON—Rep. French Hill (R-AR) has sponsored a bipartisan bill that would provide a safe harbor for financial institutions that maintain a customer account at
the request of a federal or state law enforcement agency, according to the congressional record summary.
The Cooperate with Law Enforcement Agencies and Watch Act of 2019 (H.R. 758), which Hill introduced with U.S. Rep. Bill Foster (D-IL), would strengthen protections for financial institutions that are called upon by law enforcement for help during criminal investigations, The Ripon Advance said.
“H.R. 758 is a common-sense solution that allows financial institutions and law enforcement to better cooperate in order to prosecute bad actors wanting to use the American financial system for their criminal acts,” Hill stated.
Currently, financial institutions operate under June 2007 guidance issued by the U.S. Financial Crimes Enforcement Network of the U.S. Treasury Department. The guidance basically states that a financial institution should ask for written requests signed by a supervisor of the state or local law enforcement agency or from an attorney within a state or local prosecutor’s office stating the purpose of the request that a financial institution maintain a particular account and for how long, The Ripon Advance explained.
Such requests are commonly known as a Keep Open Letter, which allows financial institutions to keep open certain accounts so law enforcement can monitor any suspected illegal activity. The duration for such requests is not to exceed six months, although an agency or federal department may re-submit requests to hold accounts open longer, according to the guidance, The Ripon Advance said.
“As a former community banker, I have dealt with this conflict of wanting to help law enforcement agencies when receiving a ‘Keep Open Letter,’ while not being able to because of the need to comply with the requirements set forth by a regulator,” said Hill, noting that H.R. 758 would protect financial institutions against any backlash from regulatory agencies.