Financial Institutions Required To Do Their Part To Fight Crime

This paper will briefly explain how the U.S. Patriot Act legislation came into existence, but its main focus will be to outline the requirements of the recently proposed Section 326 'Customer Identification Program.' This paper will identify who must comply with the Section 326 ruling and will explore the impact it will have on day-to-day operations for financial institutions. It will familiarize the reader with some of the compliance software options available in the marketplace and in conclusion will evaluate the costs and public perceptions in an attempt to determine whether compliance with this legislation will be an effective defense in the struggle to stay one step ahead of the criminals.