Key facts
- The Treasury Department issued new guidance expanding bank data-sharing rules.
- Banks can now share information about suspected customers more rapidly and with broader justifications, including flags related to immigration status.
- This initiative is part of President Donald Trump's immigration enforcement strategy, framed as a crackdown on fraud and crime.
- The guidance stems from a May executive order directing regulators to identify individuals without legal status opening accounts or obtaining loans.
- Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent stated banks should use their customer knowledge to identify risk and report illicit activity, not act as immigration officers.
The Treasury Department has expanded rules that allow banks to share customer data, linking financial institutions more closely to President Donald Trump's immigration enforcement efforts. New guidance issued Friday enables banks to share information about suspected customers more rapidly and provides broader reasons for flagging individuals, including indicators of lacking legal immigration status.
These measures are part of an administration push to remove undocumented workers from the financial system, framed as a strategy to combat fraud and crime. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent stated that the information banks possess can help disrupt illicit activities and protect taxpayers. The guidance stems from a May executive order by Trump, which directs regulators and government departments to identify signs of individuals without legal status opening accounts or obtaining loans, though it does not mandate banks collect citizenship information.