House advances bank protection bill sponsored by Hill

The U.S. House of Representatives this month approved bipartisan legislation sponsored by U.S. Rep. French Hill (R-AR) to protect banks working with law enforcement during criminal investigations.

The House on March 11 voted 404-7 to pass the Cooperate with Law Enforcement Agencies and Watch Act of 2019, H.R. 758, which Rep. Hill introduced in January with U.S. Rep. Bill Foster (D-IL) to strengthen protections for financial institutions that are called upon by law enforcement for help during criminal investigations.

“I appreciate the support of my colleagues in the House to pass this important legislation and I look forward to working with the Senate to get it across the finish line,” Rep. Hill said.

U.S. banks currently face strict rules for managing accounts so that they aren’t used to facilitate illegal activities like money laundering, terrorism financing, drug running, and others. When investigating such crimes, law enforcement may send notices to banks known as “keep open” letters that request the banks keep an account open to allow them to track payments and monitor criminals.

“I’ve recently heard from banks that are seeing an increase in the number of requests from law enforcement to cooperate with a criminal investigation, which can include money laundering, terrorism financing, and human trafficking,” added the congressman.

If enacted, H.R. 758 would provide protections for financial institutions when they’re cooperating with a federal or state law enforcement agency. 

The lawmaker said that as a former community banker, he has been in similar situations in which he wanted to help law enforcement agencies, but had to comply with regulations.

“Allowing banks to keep accounts open that are involved in criminal investigations will help combat these horrific crimes,” Rep. Hill said. “My common-sense bill supports our law enforcement by allowing financial institutions to comply with such a request to maintain a suspicious account without being penalized by regulators.” 

The U.S. Senate on March 12 received H.R. 758 and referred it to the U.S. Senate Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs Committee for consideration.