Title: Cooperate with Law Enforcement Agencies and Watch Act of 2018
Policy area: Finance and Financial Sector

Summary:
Cooperate with Law Enforcement Agencies and Watch Act of 2018
This bill limits a financial institution's liability for maintaining a customer account in compliance with a written request by a federal, state, tribal, or local law enforcement agency. A federal or state agency may not take an adverse supervisory action against a financial institution with respect to maintaining an account consistent with such a request.

[Congressional Bills 115th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 3045 Introduced in Senate (IS)]

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115th CONGRESS
  2d Session
                                S. 3045

To amend title 31, United States Code, to establish a safe harbor with 
                     respect to keep open letters.


_______________________________________________________________________


                   IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

                             June 11, 2018

 Mr. Cotton (for himself and Mr. Jones) introduced the following bill; 
which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Banking, Housing, 
                           and Urban Affairs

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
To amend title 31, United States Code, to establish a safe harbor with 
                     respect to keep open letters.

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

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

    This Act may be cited as the ``Cooperate with Law Enforcement 
Agencies and Watch Act of 2018''.

SEC. 2. SAFE HARBOR WITH RESPECT TO KEEP OPEN LETTERS.

    (a) In General.--Subchapter II of chapter 53 of title 31, United 
States Code, is amended by adding at the end the following:
``Sec. 5333. Safe harbor with respect to keep open letters
    ``(a) In General.--With respect to a customer account of a 
financial institution, if a Federal, State, Tribal, or local law 
enforcement agency requests, in writing, the financial institution to 
keep such account open--
            ``(1) the financial institution shall not be liable under 
        this subchapter for maintaining such account consistent with 
        the parameters of the request; and
            ``(2) no Federal or State department or agency may take any 
        adverse supervisory action under this subchapter with respect 
        to the financial institution for maintaining such account 
        consistent with the parameters of the request.
    ``(b) Rule of Construction.--Nothing in this section may be 
construed--
            ``(1) from preventing a Federal or State department or 
        agency from verifying the validity of a written request 
        described under subsection (a) with the Federal, State, Tribal, 
        or local law enforcement agency making the written request; or
            ``(2) to relieve a financial institution from complying 
        with any reporting requirements, including the reporting of 
        suspicious transactions under section 5318(g).
    ``(c) Letter Termination Date.--For purposes of this section, any 
written request described under subsection (a) shall include a 
termination date after which such request shall no longer apply.''.
    (b) Clerical Amendment.--The table of contents for chapter 53 of 
title 31, United States Code, is amended by inserting after the item 
relating to section 5332 the following:

``5333. Safe harbor with respect to keep open letters.''.
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