Know Your Customer: What Happened and What Happens Next?

No one could have predicted the outcry from the industry, the public, Congress and the media on the know your customer (KYC) proposal unveiled on 7th December, 1998. For many years, compliance officers had heard about the possibility of a regulatory proposal to formalise the policy of identifying new account holders, reporting suspicious activity and training all employees. What was finally released went far beyond that.