We are a community bank wholly-owned by a foreign bank and many of our customers are resident and non-resident aliens. Some customers provided ITINs as opposed to Social Security Numbers and we accept them as identifying number for CIP purposes but then we have a problem if we then find evidence that the person is working in the US since all available IRS information on ITINs indicate that having the number does not give work authorization. Is this now a SAR situation? There is no SAR category for this and prevalent opinions are that we are bankers and not immigration officers but still we have knowledge of possible illegal employment. There is a difference of opinion here and would like others to opine on this matter. Thanks.

Knowledge that a customer who provided you an ITIN is now working in the U.S. is not the basis for SAR consideration. He may have received the SSN after he opened the account.

Your consideration of a SAR filing (or simple account closure) should begin with how he responds to your request for an SSN.

Unfortunately our senior management does not want to consider closing the account and/or filing a SAR for these customers and I have it in writing.

Then why bother asking the question??

I'll go back to Ken's suggestion. Start by asking these individuals who are now apparently drawing paychecks to provide you with an SSN for your records. Only if they fail to respond with an SSN would I even start considering whether there's anything suspicious going on.

As my mother advised decades ago: Don't run to meet trouble.

I posted this question to solicit opinions since these customers do not have SSNs and we (BSA) believe that we should close the accounts but are being over-ruled and I wanted further ammunition for our argument.

There is no regulatory requirement for closure if the customers provided you with a legit ITIN when opening the account. There's no IRS requirement for you to obtain an SSN on the accounts, with a possible exception if they earn interest.

Unless: 1) you are looking to assist in immigration enforcement, or 2) there is a lot more running through these accounts than a simple paycheck and personal expense, I think you are wasting resources on something which could be better spent elsewhere.

I agree with Randy. I come from a bank where 50% of the account holders did not have a TIN/SSN when opening the accounts due to immigration status. However, we only filed SARs or closed accounts when the activity appeared to be illegal or we were unable to validate the source of income. Such as the housewife who deposits large amounts of cash and no source of income was stated at account opening. Follow up conversations with the customer indicated still "just a housewife" so a SAR is filed. Otherwise it is not our place to police the customers. Let immigration do their job because as a BSA Officer, I have plenty to keep me busy.