IMPORTANT INFORMATION ABOUT PROCEDURES FOR OPENING ORCHANGING AN ACCOUNT WITH Credit Societe
Section 326 of the USA PATRIOT ACT requires all financial institutions to obtain, verify, and record information that identifies each person who opens an account or changes an existing account. This federal requirement applies to all new customers and current customers. This information is used to assist the United States government in the fight against the funding of terrorism and money-laundering activities.
What this means to you: when you open an account or change an existing account, we will ask each person for their name, physical address, mailing address, date of birth, and other information that will allow us to identify them. We will ask to see each person’s driver’s license and other identifying documents and copy or record information from each of them.
IMPORTANT INFORMATION ABOUT PROCEDURES FOR OPENING A NEWACCOUNT
To help the government fight the funding of terrorism and money laundering activities, Federal law requires all financial institutions to obtain, verify and record information that identities each person who opens an account.
What this means for you: When opening an account, we will ask for your name, address, date of birth and other information that will allow us to identify you. We may also ask to see your driver’s license or other identifying documents.
Anti-Money Laundering (AML)
Anti-money laundering (AML) is a term mainly used in the financial and legal industries to describe the legal controls that require financial institutions and other regulated entities to prevent or report money laundering activities. Anti-money laundering guidelines came into prominence globally after the September 11, 2001, attacks and the subsequent enactment of the USA PATRIOT Act.
Today, most financial institutions globally, and many non-financial institutions, are required to identify and report transactions of a suspicious nature to the financial intelligence unit in the respective country. For example, a bank must perform due diligence by ascertaining a customer's identity and monitor transactions for suspicious activity. To do this, many financial institutions utilize the services of special software, and use the services of companies such as C6 to gather information about high-risk individuals and organizations. United States federal law related to money laundering is implemented under the Bank Secrecy Act of 1970 as amended by anti-money laundering acts up to the present. Many people have confused Anti-Money Laundering (AML) with Anti-Terrorist Financing (ATF). Under the Bank Secrecy Act of USA, Money Laundering and Terrorist Financing are classified when financial institutions file Suspicious Activity Reports (SAR) to Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN) which is a US government agency. To effectively implement AML and ATF measures, The US government encourages financial institutions to work together for AML and ATF purposes in accordance with Section 314(b) of the USA PATRIOT Act. However, since financial institutions are required by law to protect the privacy of their clients, section 314(b) cooperation has not been generally adopted by financial institutions. To overcome this obstacle, the United Crimes Elimination Network (UCEN) has been established by AML and ATF professionals to achieve this global cooperation goal in compliance with the privacy laws of most countries.
In different countries and, depending on the activity, demand different action. For example, in the US a deposit of US$10,000 or more requires a CTR (Currency Transaction Report), in Europe it is EUR 15,000, and in Switzerland it is CHF 25,000. In some countries there is no CTR requirement. Suspicion of ML activity in the US requires the submission of a SAR, while in Switzerland a SAR will only get filed if that activity can be proved. As a result, thousands of SARs are filed daily in the US, while in Switzerland the rate is much lower.
The United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime maintains the International Money Laundering Information Network, a website that provides information and software for anti-money laundering data collection and analysis. The World Bank has a website in which it provides policy advice and best practices to governments and the private sector on anti-money laundering issues.
