USA PATRIOT Act Section 326 (2001)
Congress passed Section 326 of the USA PATRIOT Act six weeks after September 11. The provision required Treasury to write rules forcing banks to verify the identity of every new customer.
Treasury issued the customer identification program rule in 2003. Banks rebuilt account-opening procedures and added staff to handle document verification.
The 2003 rule has governed bank account-opening for two decades. It also affirmed that banks could accept ITINs for non-citizens, the comfort the new Trump order targets.
Trump's executive order asks Treasury to rewrite that same 2003 rule. The Patriot Act framework that opened the door to ITIN banking is now being used to close it.
