Section 1 Short title
This Act may be cited as the “Alien Banking Act”.
Alien Banking Act
A BILL
To amend section 5318 of title 31, United States Code, to require financial institutions to verify the lawful immigration status of applicants for deposit accounts through a self-attestation form, to impose penalties on individuals for false attestations, and for other purposes.
Sec. 2 Requirement for immigration status verification in customer identification programs
In general— Section 5318(l) of title 31, United States Code, is amended—
in paragraph (2)—
in subparagraph (B), by striking “and” at the end;
in subparagraph (C), by striking the period at the end and inserting “; and”; and
by adding at the end the following:
“(D) requiring any individual who is present in the United States and seeking to open an account to attest, under penalty of perjury, to the individual’s lawful presence in the United States, including by checking a box or similar affirmation on the deposit account application form indicating whether the individual is a United States citizen, a lawful permanent resident, or otherwise lawfully present in the United States, as defined by the Secretary of Homeland Security in consultation with the Secretary of the Treasury.”
by adding at the end the following:
“(7) Prohibition on opening accounts for unlawfully present individuals—A financial institution may not open or maintain an account for any individual who fails to provide the attestation required under paragraph (2)(D).
“(8) Penalties for individuals
“(A) Civil penalty—Any individual who knowingly makes a false attestation described in paragraph (2)(D) is liable for a civil penalty of not less than $10,000 and not more than $50,000.
“(B) Criminal penalty—Any individual who knowingly makes a false attestation described in paragraph (2)(D) shall be fined under title 18, United States Code, imprisoned not more than 5 years, or both. Notwithstanding title 18, United States Code, the fine under this subparagraph shall not exceed $250,000.
“(C) Forfeiture of assets
“(i) Civil forfeiture—In the case of an individual knowingly making a false attestation described in paragraph (2)(D) in connection with an account, any property contained in the account, regardless of when such property was placed in the account, and any property otherwise traceable to the account, may be seized and forfeited to the United States in accordance with the procedures governing civil forfeitures in money laundering cases pursuant to section 981(a)(1)(A) of title 18, United States Code.
“(ii) Criminal forfeiture
“(I) In general—A court, in imposing sentence for an individual knowingly making a false attestation described in paragraph (2)(D) in connection with an account, shall order the defendant to forfeit all property contained in the account, regardless of when such property was placed in the account, and any property otherwise traceable to the account.
“(II) Procedure—Forfeitures under this clause shall be governed by the procedures established in section 413 of the Controlled Substances Act.
“(9) Reporting requirement—A financial institution that has reason to believe an individual has made a false attestation described in paragraph (2)(D) shall report such belief to the Secretary of Homeland Security and the Attorney General.”
Sec. 3 Regulations
Not later than 180 days after the date of enactment of this Act, the Secretary of the Treasury, in consultation with the Secretary of Homeland Security and the Attorney General, shall issue regulations to implement the amendments made by section 2 of this Act, including—
model language for the attestation described in 5318(l)(2)(D) of title 31, United States Code; and
guidelines for reporting suspected false attestations under section 5318(l)(9) of such title.
Sec. 4 Effective date
The provisions added by the amendments made by this Act shall take effect on the date that is 1 year after the date of enactment of this Act.