WASHINGTON—Banks may not like the idea of being required to collect citizenship information from customers, but Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said Wednesday they should be ready if regulators decide that becomes part of their job, according to CNBC.
Speaking with CNBC’s Sara Eisen at the Invest in America Forum in Washington, Bessent said, “If Treasury and the banking regulators say it’s their job, it’s their job,” as the Administration moves closer to a long-discussed executive order that would tie banking access more directly to citizenship or immigration-status verification, CNBC reported.
CNBC said Bessent also told Semafor earlier this week that the executive order is now “in process,” marking the clearest sign yet that the proposal could soon become formal policy. The move would fit into President Trump’s broader push to tie immigration enforcement more closely to the collection of personal status information across multiple parts of U.S. civic and economic life.
Under current rules, U.S. banks are not required to collect proof of citizenship to open an account, though they must verify customer identity under “know your customer” requirements tied to the Bank Secrecy Act, USA PATRIOT Act and anti-money-laundering compliance. CNBC reported Bessent argued that standard identification checks are not enough, saying banks cannot fully “know your customer” if they do not know whether a person is a U.S. citizen, green card holder or in the country illegally.