Title: Cooperate with Law Enforcement Agencies and Watch Act of 2019
Policy area: Finance and Financial Sector

Summary:
Cooperate with Law Enforcement Agencies and Watch Act of 2019
This bill limits a financial institution's liability for maintaining a customer account or a customer transaction 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 or a transaction consistent with such a request.

[Congressional Bills 116th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 758 Introduced in House (IH)]

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116th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                H. R. 758

  To provide a safe harbor for financial institutions that maintain a 
customer account or customer transaction at the request of a Federal or 
                     State law enforcement agency.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                            January 24, 2019

   Mr. Hill of Arkansas (for himself and Mr. Foster) introduced the 
   following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Financial 
                                Services

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
  To provide a safe harbor for financial institutions that maintain a 
customer account or customer transaction at the request of a Federal or 
                     State law enforcement agency.

    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 2019''.

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 or customer 
transaction of a financial institution, if a Federal, State, Tribal, or 
local law enforcement agency requests, in writing, the financial 
institution to keep such account or transaction open--
            ``(1) the financial institution shall not be liable under 
        this subchapter for maintaining such account or transaction 
        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 or 
        transaction 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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