I 

116TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 189 

To provide requirements for the appropriate Federal banking agencies when 

requesting or ordering a depository institution to terminate a specific 

customer account, and for other purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

JANUARY 3, 2019 

Mr. LUETKEMEYER introduced the following bill; which was referred to the 

Committee on Financial Services 

A BILL 

To provide requirements for the appropriate Federal banking 

agencies when requesting or ordering a depository institution to terminate a specific customer account, and 

for other purposes. 

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Financial Institution 

5 Customer Protection Act of 2019’’. 


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1 SEC. 2. REQUIREMENTS FOR DEPOSIT ACCOUNT TERMI2 NATION REQUESTS AND ORDERS. 

3 (a) TERMINATION REQUESTS OR ORDERS MUST BE

4 VALID.— 

5 (1) IN GENERAL.—An appropriate Federal 

6 banking agency may not formally or informally re7 quest or order a depository institution to terminate 

8 a specific customer account or group of customer ac9 counts or to otherwise restrict or discourage a de10 pository institution from entering into or maintain11 ing a banking relationship with a specific customer 

12 or group of customers unless— 

13 (A) the agency has a valid reason for such 

14 request or order; and 

15 (B) such reason is not based solely on rep16 utation risk. 

17 (2) TREATMENT OF NATIONAL SECURITY

18 THREATS.—If an appropriate Federal banking agen19 cy believes a specific customer or group of customers 

20 is, or is acting as a conduit for, an entity which— 

21 (A) poses a threat to national security; 

22 (B) is involved in terrorist financing; 

23 (C) is an agency of the Government of 

24 Iran, North Korea, Syria, or any country listed 

25 from time to time on the State Sponsors of 

26 Terrorism list; 


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1 (D) is located in, or is subject to the juris2 diction of, any country specified in subpara3 graph (C); or 

4 (E) does business with any entity described 

5 in subparagraph (C) or (D), unless the appro6 priate Federal banking agency determines that 

7 the customer or group of customers has used 

8 due diligence to avoid doing business with any 

9 entity described in subparagraph (C) or (D), 

10 such belief shall satisfy the requirement under para11 graph (1). 

12 (b) NOTICE REQUIREMENT.— 

13 (1) IN GENERAL.—If an appropriate Federal 

14 banking agency formally or informally requests or 

15 orders a depository institution to terminate a spe16 cific customer account or a group of customer ac17 counts, the agency shall— 

18 (A) provide such request or order to the 

19 institution in writing; and 

20 (B) accompany such request or order with 

21 a written justification for why such termination 

22 is needed, including any specific laws or regula23 tions the agency believes are being violated by 

24 the customer or group of customers, if any. 


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1 (2) JUSTIFICATION REQUIREMENT.—A jus2 tification described under paragraph (1)(B) may not 

3 be based solely on the reputation risk to the deposi4 tory institution. 

5 (c) CUSTOMER NOTICE.— 

6 (1) NOTICE REQUIRED.—Except as provided 

7 under paragraph (2) or as otherwise prohibited from 

8 being disclosed by law, if an appropriate Federal 

9 banking agency orders a depository institution to 

10 terminate a specific customer account or a group of 

11 customer accounts, the depository institution shall 

12 inform the specific customer or group of customers 

13 of the justification for the customer’s account termi14 nation described under subsection (b). 

15 (2) NOTICE PROHIBITED.— 

16 (A) NOTICE PROHIBITED IN CASES OF NA17 TIONAL SECURITY.—If an appropriate Federal 

18 banking agency requests or orders a depository 

19 institution to terminate a specific customer ac20 count or a group of customer accounts based on 

21 a belief that the customer or customers pose a 

22 threat to national security, or are otherwise de23 scribed under subsection (a)(2), neither the de24 pository institution nor the appropriate Federal 

25 banking agency may inform the customer or 


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1 customers of the justification for the customer’s 

2 account termination. 

3 (B) NOTICE PROHIBITED IN OTHER

4 CASES.—If an appropriate Federal banking 

5 agency determines that the notice required 

6 under paragraph (1) may interfere with an au7 thorized criminal investigation, neither the de8 pository institution nor the appropriate Federal 

9 banking agency may inform the specific cus10 tomer or group of customers of the justification 

11 for the customer’s account termination. 

12 (d) REPORTING REQUIREMENT.—Each appropriate 

13 Federal banking agency shall issue an annual report to 

14 the Congress stating— 

15 (1) the aggregate number of specific customer 

16 accounts that the agency requested or ordered a de17 pository institution to terminate during the previous 

18 year; and 

19 (2) the legal authority on which the agency re20 lied in making such requests and orders and the fre21 quency on which the agency relied on each such au22 thority. 

23 (e) DEFINITIONS.—For purposes of this section: 


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1 (1) APPROPRIATE FEDERAL BANKING AGEN2 CY.—The term ‘‘appropriate Federal banking agen3 cy’’ means— 

4 (A) the appropriate Federal banking agen5 cy, as defined under section 3 of the Federal 

6 Deposit Insurance Act (12 U.S.C. 1813); and 

7 (B) the National Credit Union Administra8 tion, in the case of an insured credit union. 

9 (2) DEPOSITORY INSTITUTION.—The term ‘‘de10 pository institution’’ means— 

11 (A) a depository institution, as defined 

12 under section 3 of the Federal Deposit Insur13 ance Act (12 U.S.C. 1813); and 

14 (B) an insured credit union, as defined 

15 under section 101 of the Federal Credit Union 

16 Act (12 U.S.C. 1752). 

Æ 


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