Stepping into a bank feels like stepping into other businesses. Certainly, there are several additional cameras, one or two armed guards, but the rest is a typical experience. Invisible is the flooding of tens of thousands of reports every day, where banks and other financial institutions record how American people use money and submit them to the government.
Banks may look like a private company on the surface, but they have long played a role as an investigator of the Federal Law Enforcement Organization.
Finance is one of the most private aspects in our lives. We cover the ATM keypad, shorten financial statements, and use multi -factor authentication for online accounts. But what we really have is the illusion of economic privacy.。 Our information may be protected by the general public, but is not protected by the government.
This issue is currently due to a series of laws known as the “Bank Secret Law System.” From 1970 Bank secret method Two major changes have been made to the financial system. beginning, The law requires Banks have obliged to maintain their customers when such records are highly useful in criminal, tax, and regulated surveys and procedures.
Second, the law requires banks to report specific transactions to the government. Since 1972, banks are required to submit a currency transaction report each time a customer makes a transaction of over $ 10,000.
Congress did not stop there.
Congress in 1992 Expanded the system It is currently called a “suspicious report,” and obliges banks to start reporting “suspicious transactions that may violate laws and regulations.” This process is wrapped in secret. If any of these reports are submitted to you, the bank will not tell you why. Even the existence of the report cannot be confirmed.
Congress is not yet satisfied with the constructed monitoring system The system has been further expanded With 9/11 attack. In particular, the bank was obliged to collect identification information before opening a new account and check potential customers. These identification measures, called Know Your Customer requirements, are currently found throughout the large and small financial services.
Currently, the Bank secret law system requires the government to report customers to the government on the increasing number of dangerous signals. This includes cases where it is unclear where the customer money came from, and when the customer approaches the $ 10,000 reporting standard (but does not exceed). Even a simple act of depositing money after selling a car or withdrawing money for urgent expenses can be ranked on this list.
2023 In the fiscal year only, financial institutions 27 million RReport on customers. This is equivalent to more than 75,000 reports every day. Every day, people are treated as criminal reserve unknowingly by the institution that deposits money. Most of these reports are submitted only for customers who have made more than $ 10,000 transactions.
This system has existed for more than 50 years, but it has been open to the public about how the government has used these reports in the last two years. These data so far supported that this system is far from effective or efficient.
IRS started from the information in the 27 million reports submitted last year. 372 criminal investigations。 It is still unresolved to see how many of these investigations have ultimately convicted.
If you are concerned about the possibility of illegal acts, you can report it. This is the same as calling the police if you are worried that a crime may have occurred. The abolition of this obligatory surveillance system does not change. It only prevents countless and innocent Americans from being regularly infringed on privacy.
After all, we should be able to get out of it because the parliament involved us in this confusion. It’s time for banks to end the practices of decades to force the role as an information provider. Congress should abolish the laws that support this system and restore economic privacy.
This article was initially printed on the next headline. “Bank is aiming for you.”
