Is BSA Becoming a 'Bank Surveillance Act'?: Comments of the Week

February 20, 2015 7:30 AM

American Banker readers share their views on the most pressing banking topics of the week. Comments are excerpted from reader response sections of AmericanBanker.com articles and from our social media platforms.

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On an argument that banks should have to collect information on "beneficial owners" of accounts:

"The author wastes no time to address the question of where and how banks are supposed to get this information, or what it would do to the nature of the banking system. Her approach would turn the Bank Secrecy Act into the Bank Surveillance Act. Yet one more major step to drive people the vast majority who are not criminals but neither are they fond of the government sifting through their bank accounts out of the banking system. "

On a commenter's claim that beneficial ownership rules would force banks to intrude on customer privacy:

"Bank Surveillance Act? Really? Banks have the information on all of us poor people already, and if the government wants it, it's a subpoena away. For the rich and powerful, the TBTF banks are the best way to hide your money, regardless of where it originated. Why shouldn't the filthy rich drug lords, Ponzi schemers, cheats and frauds, and trust fund babies be subject to the same rules as the rest of us?"

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On an argument that banks should have to collect information on "beneficial owners" of accounts:

"Policy analysts like this fail to understand financial privacy as a human right. Government should be transparent." (Via Twitter)

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On government efforts to crack down on opaque legal entities:

"Offshore tax havens and shell corporations are the last escape valves of today's increasingly constricted financial system. Not easy." (Via Twitter)

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On anti-money laundering regulations:

"I still want to see the AML cost-benefit analysis. The [Financial Action Task Force] recommendations for a risk-based approach are sound." (Via Twitter)

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On a recommendation that bank directors receive professional certification before sitting on the boards of systemically important financial institutions:

"Banking as we have known it has changed much from ancient times and will continue to do so; just look at the disruptive forces at work today. Training in yesteryear's stuff narrows the focus and is akin to a general's training for tomorrow's wars based on yesterday's wars."

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On the recommendation that the Federal Reserve refrain from overstepping its authority on faster payments and let the private sector take the lead:

"For the U.S. to remain globally competitive as an economy, faster payments are a most basic requirement. If this is not mandated at the federal level, the same 'waiting for the cream to rise' approach will leave the U.S. 10 years behind countries like Kenya and regions like the EU The free market cannot move the banking system without critical mass. Critical mass is hindered in this instance by the existing payments ecosystem."

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On Sen. Elizabeth Warren's claim that since community banks' profits are rising, they must be able to handle the additional regulations imposed under Dodd-Frank:

"Cancer may not hurt much when you are first diagnosed, but you know it will be unpleasant, time-consuming and expensive before you recover. That is, if you recover."

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On a Harvard study that found onerous regulations have had a big impact on community banks' bottom lines:

"Someone should show this to Elizabeth Warren. It came from Harvard so she should view it as gospel."

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On whether some bank trade groups have an ulterior motive in recruiting community banks to push for regulatory relief:

"I also think the [Dodd-Frank] law has caused several hardships on community banks and their customers. But community bankers better open their eyes if we do not think the large banks and the [American Bankers Association] are not hiding behind us to get changes in the law."

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On the assertion that unexpected central bank actions can pose risk to the financial system:

"Isn't it ironic that the nation's most powerful, most secretive, least accountable institution charged with mitigating systemic risk should be the source of it?"

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On the difficulties of evaluating banks' corporate cultures:

"Is culture important? Yes. Can it be discovered? Yes, if you are careful enough. Does it lend itself to regulation? Not likely."

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On the deficiencies in regulations intended to reduce the risk posed by the world's largest banks:

"The purpose of the regulations is not to reduce systemic risk. The purpose is to increase the opportunities for graft. Once you realize this, the entire scheme becomes clear."

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