Know Your
Customer
The Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC), Board of
Governors of the Federal Reserve System, Office of the Comptroller of the
Currency, and Office of Thrift Supervision proposed a change to banking
regulations in 1998 that would ensure banks and savings institutions have
policies and procedures in place for screening transactions. Known as "Know
Your Customer" programs, the federal regulatory agencies claimed they were
trying to thwart money launderers and drug dealers. But what this law would do
is turn every bank teller into a government informer and everyone with a bank
account into a criminal suspect.
Students of Bible prophecy recognize
this as another incremental step toward the fulfillment of the prophecy found
in the book of Revelation which reveals that the antichrist will be able to
track and control all financial transactions.
He also forced everyone, small and great, rich and poor, free and slave, to receive a mark of his right hand or on his forehead, so that no one could buy or sell unless he had the mark, which is the name of the beast or the number of his name. [Revelation 13:16-17]
The scripture says that NO MAN will be able to buy or sell anything unless he has the mark.
According to the 1998 proposed regulation (12 CFR 326), "the regulation would
require each nonmember bank to develop a program designed to determine the
identity of its customers; determine its customers' sources of
funds; determine the normal and expected transactions of its customers;
monitor account activity for transactions that are inconsistent with
those normal and expected transactions; and report any transactions of
its customers that are determined to be suspicious, in accordance with the
FDIC's existing suspicious activity reporting regulation.
By requiring
insured nonmember banks to determine the identity of their customers, as well
as to obtain knowledge regarding the legitimate activities of their customers,
the proposed regulation will reduce the likelihood that insured nonmember banks
will become unwitting participants in illicit activities conducted or attempted
by their customers."
Following a hugh outpouring of negative public
opinion by way of over 250,000 letters, e-mail messages, and faxes the FDIC
received concerning "Know Your Customer," the head of the FDIC later announced
that "the public has spoken very loudly and clearly." Chairwoman Donna Tanoue
said that she will urge the FDIC's board to drop the controversial rule at
their next meeting.
Indeed, at that meeting, the Federal Deposit
Insurance Corporation (FDIC), Office of the Comptroller of the Currency, Office
of Thrift Supervision, and the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve (the
"Agencies") officially voted to withdraw their proposed Know Your Customer
rule.
Even with the withdrawal of the FDIC regulation, it turns out the
Bank Secrecy Act compliance manual of the Federal Reserve mandates banks to
implement a Know Your Customer program. Indeed, according to a recent survey by
the American Bankers Association, over 88 percent of US banks already have Know
Your Customer policies in place.
"While the unanimous vote by the Senate and the likely withdrawal of the "Know Your Customer" proposal at the FDIC are developments worth cheering about, they will represent nothing more than temporary victories for freedom and constitutional rights. The government will be back. There will be new attempts to find out how you are spending the small amount of money your "public servants" permit you to keep. When you least expect it, they will be back in your pocket and snooping in your private affairs once again." - Joseph Farah, World Net Daily
Indeed... they did come back with renewed fervor in 2001 thanks to
the 9/11 attacks. And, they came back with an expanded list of targets... it
wasn't only money launderers and drug dealers, but now was to prevent identity
theft and terrorist financing. The USA PATRIOT Act of 2001 requires financial
institutions to implement a customer identification program to verify the
identities of customers and verifying that the customer is not on any list of
known fraudsters, terrorists or money launderers, such as the Office of Foreign
Assets Control's Specially Designated Nationals list.
Beyond name
matching, banks are now also using specialised transaction monitoring software
to compare transactions of a customer against their recorded profile, history
on the customers account(s) and with peers.
You should beware of any financial transaction you do -- especially
depositing money in your bank or withdrawing money from your bank. With your
bank reporting your financial transactions to federal enforcement agencies,
will you be prepared to explain to federal agents why you conducted that
particular financial transaction?
In a free society, the government has
no business asking where you get your money or how you spend it -- and
politicians have no right to force your bank to monitor your account.
Big Brother Is Monitoring Us by Databases, The Phyllis Schlafly Report, Sept. 1998
