Explicitly Mentioning the PATRIOT Act on Lobby Notices - Mary Beth Guard

Explicitly Mentioning the PATRIOT Act on Lobby Notices
by Mary Beth Guard, BOL Guru

Question: In our customer's notification sign for Section 326 of the Patriot Act, are we required by the regulation to mention "Section 326 of the United States Patriot Act" in the notice? Currently, we do have a notice asking for identification, but it does not mention Section 326.

Answer: The CIP rules do not require you to make reference to the PATRIOT Act or to Section 326. You merely need to generally describe the identification requirements.

The pertinent part of the rules reads as follows:
Customer notice. The CIP must include procedures for providing bank customers with adequate notice that the bank is requesting information to verify their identities.
(ii) Adequate notice. Notice is adequate if the bank generally describes the identification requirements of this section and provides the notice in a manner reasonably designed to ensure that a customer is able to view the notice, or is otherwise given notice, before opening an account. For example, depending upon the manner in which the account is opened, a bank may post a notice in the lobby or on its website, include the notice on its account applications, or use any other form of written or oral notice.
(iii) Sample notice. If appropriate, a bank may use the following sample language to provide notice to its customers:
[I have omitted the sample notice language.]

While the rule does not require it, I still think it is advisble to make reference to the USA PATRIOT Act and the fact that your institution is merely following the law in imposing these new identification requirements.

The original version appeared in the July/August 2003 edition of the Oklahoma Bankers Association Compliance Informer.

First published on BankersOnline.com 1/26/04