114TH CONGRESS 
2D SESSION 
H. R. 766 
AN ACT 
To provide requirements for the appropriate Federal banking 
agencies when requesting or ordering a depository insti-
tution to terminate a specific customer account, to pro-
vide for additional requirements related to subpoenas 
issued under the Financial Institutions Reform, Recov-
ery, and Enforcement Act of 1989, and for other pur-
poses. 
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-
tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled,
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 
This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Financial Institution 
Customer Protection Act of 2016’’. 
SEC. 2. REQUIREMENTS FOR DEPOSIT ACCOUNT TERMI-
NATION REQUESTS AND ORDERS. 
(a) TERMINATION REQUESTS OR ORDERS MUST BE 
MATERIAL.— 
(1) IN
GENERAL.—An appropriate Federal 
banking agency may not formally or informally re-
quest or order a depository institution to terminate 
a specific customer account or group of customer ac-
counts or to otherwise restrict or discourage a de-
pository institution from entering into or maintain-
ing a banking relationship with a specific customer 
or group of customers unless— 
(A) the agency has a material reason for 
such request or order; and 
(B) such reason is not based solely on rep-
utation risk. 
(2) 
TREATMENT
OF
NATIONAL
SECURITY 
THREATS.—If an appropriate Federal banking agen-
cy believes a specific customer or group of customers 
is, or is acting as a conduit for, an entity which— 
(A) poses a threat to national security; 
(B) is involved in terrorist financing;
(C) is an agency of the government of 
Iran, North Korea, Syria, or any country listed 
from time to time on the State Sponsors of 
Terrorism list; 
(D) is located in, or is subject to the juris-
diction of, any country specified in subpara-
graph (C); or 
(E) does business with any entity described 
in subparagraph (C) or (D), unless the appro-
priate Federal banking agency determines that 
the customer or group of customers has used 
due diligence to avoid doing business with any 
entity described in subparagraph (C) or (D), 
such belief shall satisfy the requirement under para-
graph (1). 
(b) NOTICE REQUIREMENT.— 
(1) IN GENERAL.—If an appropriate Federal 
banking agency formally or informally requests or 
orders a depository institution to terminate a spe-
cific customer account or a group of customer ac-
counts, the agency shall— 
(A) provide such request or order to the 
institution in writing; and 
(B) accompany such request or order with 
a written justification for why such termination
is needed, including any specific laws or regula-
tions the agency believes are being violated by 
the customer or group of customers, if any. 
(2) JUSTIFICATION
REQUIREMENT.—A jus-
tification described under paragraph (1)(B) may not 
be based solely on the reputation risk to the deposi-
tory institution. 
(c) CUSTOMER NOTICE.— 
(1) NOTICE
REQUIRED.—Except as provided 
under paragraph (2), if an appropriate Federal 
banking agency orders a depository institution to 
terminate a specific customer account or a group of 
customer accounts, the depository institution shall 
inform the customer or customers of the justification 
for the customer’s account termination described 
under subsection (b). 
(2) NOTICE
PROHIBITED
IN
CASES
OF
NA-
TIONAL SECURITY.—If an appropriate Federal bank-
ing agency requests or orders a depository institu-
tion to terminate a specific customer account or a 
group of customer accounts based on a belief that 
the customer or customers pose a threat to national 
security, or are otherwise described under subsection 
(a)(2), neither the depository institution nor the ap-
propriate Federal banking agency may inform the
customer or customers of the justification for the 
customer’s account termination. 
(d) REPORTING REQUIREMENT.—Each appropriate 
Federal banking agency shall issue an annual report to 
the Congress stating— 
(1) the aggregate number of specific customer 
accounts that the agency requested or ordered a de-
pository institution to terminate during the previous 
year; and 
(2) the legal authority on which the agency re-
lied in making such requests and orders and the fre-
quency on which the agency relied on each such au-
thority. 
(e) DEFINITIONS.—For purposes of this section: 
(1) APPROPRIATE
FEDERAL
BANKING
AGEN-
CY.—The term ‘‘appropriate Federal banking agen-
cy’’ means— 
(A) the appropriate Federal banking agen-
cy, as defined under section 3 of the Federal 
Deposit Insurance Act (12 U.S.C. 1813); and 
(B) the National Credit Union Administra-
tion, in the case of an insured credit union. 
(2) DEPOSITORY INSTITUTION.—The term ‘‘de-
pository institution’’ means—