California Bankers Association : Letter to Senator Proxmire from Frederick M. Pownall... Statement of Andrew J. Shepard, chairman of the board, Exchange California Savings & Loan League, statement of Thomas M. Clusserath, 272 330 Decision of three-judge court in California-- Ervin, Sam J., Jr., U.S. Senator from the State of North Carolina, ex- change of letters with the Department of the Treasury- Federal Rules of Civil Procedure, excerpts--- Federal Rules of Criminal Procedure, excerpts. First National Bank Lincoln, letter received from Walter E. Nolte, vice Hruska, Roman L., U.S. Senator from the State of Nebraska, letter re- Independent Bankers Association of America, statement of H. L. Gerhart, 285 Securities and Exchange Commission.. Statement of William S. Lynch, Chief, Organized Crime and Racket- eering Section, Criminal Division -- Liberty Lobby, statement of Warren S. Richardson, general counsel.. Marin Independent Journal, reprint of article_ Mathias, Charles McC., Jr., U.S. Senator from the State of Maryland : Letter to the Treasury Department-- Miller, Arthur R., professor of law, Harvard University : National League of Insured Savings Associations, letter and statement re- Nebraska, letter from attorney general Clarence A. H. Meyer-- Paton's Digest, reprint of paper titled "Disclosure of Credit and Other Information Concerning Customers”. Rules of Court of the Court of Claims, excerpts_ 67 68 122 124 An overview of the currency and foreign transactions reporting A. Those affected by act and regulations. B. Report of currency transactions by financial institutions_. C. Reports of transportation of currency or monetary instruments D. Reports of interest in foreign financial accounts by persons. 294 E. Recordkeeping by financial institutions.. F. Additional recordkeeping by banks--- G. Additional recordkeeping by securities brokers and dealers.. 295 H. Variations from regulations--- I. Civil and criminal penalties. J. Issuance of search warrants.. Currency and foreign transactions reporting act statute (Titles I, II and IV of Public Law 91–508). Treasury Department regulations issued to implement Titles I and 99 Treasury Department—Continued Page Currency and foreign transactions reporting forms.. 313 (1) Form 4683_ 313 (2) Form 4789_ 315 (3) Form 4790_ 317 Bureau of Customs cases involving bank records_ 104 Eugene T. Rossides, Assistant Secretary : Exchange of letters with Senator Tunney 26, 55 Letter to Senator Proxmire---- 48, 105 Prepared statement.. 70 Legislative history of Public Law 91-508_ Proposed amendments to currency and foreign transactions regulations 105 Recent Internal Revenue Service cases involving bank records. 93 Samuel R. Pierce, Jr., General Counsel, letters to : Senator Ervin... 32 Senator Tunney 29 Summary of the results of the task force study on recordkeeping and reporting by financial institutions.. 60 William L. Dickey, Deputy Secretary for Enforcement, Tariff and Trade Affairs and Operations, letters from U.S. Savings and Loan 285 162 Justice Department.. 126, 127 Treasury Department 26, 55 Prepared statement 21 Unitarian Universalist Association: Affidavit 164 Letter to Senator Proxmire.- 175 Statement of Rev. Christopher G. Raible 164 United States Code, reprint from Title 5_. 68 U.S. District Court, northern District of California, memorandum of decision 277 United States Savings and Loan League : Letter to Treasury Department from William C. Prather, general 285 Statement of Stephen Slipher, legislative director 284 Wisconsin, letter from attorney general Robert W. Warren.. 333 AMEND THE BANK SECRECY ACT FRIDAY, AUGUST 11, 1972 U.S. SENATE, COMMITTEE ON BANKING, HOUSING AND URBAN AFFAIRS, SUBCOMMITTEE ON FINANCIAL INSTITUTIONS, Washington, D.C. The subcommittee met at 10 a.m., pursuant to call, in room 5302, New Senate Office Building, Senator William Proxmire, presiding. Present: Senators Proxmire and Bennett. Senator PROXMIRE. The subcommittee will come to order. I apologize for being late. I had a speech to give on the floor. The Subcommittee on Financial Institutions will begin 2 days of hearings on regulations issued by the Department of the Treasury to implement the Currency and Foreign Transactions Reporting Act of 1970, otherwise known as the Bank Secrecy Act. The hearings will also cover bills introduced to amend the Bank Secrecy Act including S. 3814 by Senator Tunney and S. 3828 by Senator Mathias. The principal purpose of the Bank Secrecy Act is to enable law enforcement authorities to obtain the evidence needed to prosecute white collar criminals. While the act was concerned with the illegal use of secret foreign bank accounts, it was also concerned with domestic criminal activities including tax evasion, securities manipulation, and other white collar crimes. The act was designed to achieve these objectives by requiring financial institutions to maintain certain records which the Secretary of the Treasury determined to have a high degree of usefulness in tax, criminal, or regulatory proceedings. In prescribing these record keeping requirements, Congress clearly did not intend for law enforcement officials to have access to bank records without obtaining a subpena. For example, the report of the Senate Banking Committee on the legislation states and I quote: Access by law enforcement officials to bank records required to be kept under this title would, of course, be only pursuant to a subpena or other lawful process as is presently the case. The legislation in no way I am still quoting the words of the committee, authorizes unlimited fishing expeditions into a bank's records on the part of law enforcement officials. Unfortunately, this legislative intent may not have been realized in the regulations issued. The regulations do not outline the procedures whereby Federal law enforcement officials can obtain access to the records which banks and other financial institutions are required to keep. Nor do the regulations prohibit a bank from releasing these records unless pursuant to a subpena or other legal process. I believe we need to take necessary action to safeguard the regulation. A strong argument has been made that unlimited access to these records can invade a person's right of privacy and have a chilling effect on freedom of speech and association. On the other hand, we should not let these concerns obscure the basic purpose of the legislation nor should we repeal or substantially weaken the substantive provisions of the legislation. I am hopeful that these hearings can point the way toward accommodating the individual's right of privacy with the legitimate needs of law enforcement officials to prosecute white collar criminals. (The two bills being considered are reprinted as follows:) |