The USA PATRIOT Act was signed by President George W. Bush on October 26, 2001 in response to the September 11 attacks and the anthrax letter attacks that occurred shortly thereafter.
The full name of the Act is “Uniting and Strengthening America by Providing Appropriate Tools Required to Intercept and Obstruct Terrorism Act of 2001,” and its overarching goal is to prevent and punish acts of terrorism in the United States and abroad. This is accomplished through enhancing the powers of law enforcement agencies and strengthening the scope of investigatory tools for surveilling criminal activity of terrorist organizations, identifying suspicious activity, and thwarting terrorist acts before they occur.
In an effort to deter terrorist financing via shell banks and other international money laundering activities, the PATRIOT Act also amended the Bank Secrecy Act (BSA) of 1970 to require financial institutions to establish anti-money laundering programs with specific AML policies and procedures, designated AML compliance officers, employee training programs, and independent audits for testing the efficacy of their AML programs.
Given the very serious nature of the PATRIOT Act, it is crucial for financial institutions and other businesses in the financial services industry to consistently meet the compliance requirements of this federal law through due diligence, meticulous recordkeeping, and strong customer identity verification processes. After all, non-compliance could potentially mean your institution or business being an unwitting pawn in the financing of terrorism.
CIP & OFAC Compliance with ExpectID® and ExpectID® PA
When combined, ExpectID and ExpectID PA are IDology’s complete solution for USA PATRIOT Act compliance, including requirements for Customer Identification Programs (CIP) and Office of Foreign Assets Controls (OFAC).
Our CIP and OFAC compliance solutions may be used as an identity verification product or they may be integrated with any of our other solutions — including our dynamic KBA solution, for a powerful and layered “Know Your Customer” strategy.
How ExpectID and ExpectID PA Work
ExpectID and ExpectID PA work together to validate a person’s identity and check if his or her name is listed on any government watch lists. Real-time data and faster response times keeps your business protected and compliant.
Covered Watch Lists
- OFAC – Specially Designated Nationals
- OFAC – Palestinian Legislative Council
- OFAC – Foreign Sanctions Evaders
- Politically Exposed Persons (PEP)
- Bank of England Sanctions (BOL)
- Commodity Futures Trading Commission List of Regulatory and Self-Regulatory Authorities
- Defense Trade Controls (DTC) Debarred Parties
- FBI Fugitives 10 Most Wanted, Most Wanted Terrorists, and Monthly Most Wanted Lists
- Financial Crimes Enforcement Network
- Foreign Agent Registrations
- International Police Most Wanted
- OFAC – Enhanced Sanctioned Countries
- Office of Controller of Currency of Unauthorized Banks
- Office of the Superintendent of Financial Institutions (OSFI) – Canada
- Palestinian Legislative Council
- State Department Terrorist Exclusions
- Terrorists Inside of European Union
- Terrorists Outside of European Union
- United Nations Named Terrorists
- US Bureau of Industry and Security – Unverified Entity List
- US Bureau of Industry and Security – Denied Entity List
- US Bureau of Industry and Security – Denied Person List
- World Bank Ineligible Firms