New PATRIOT Act deadlines approach for broker‐dealers: Customer identification programs to be implemented by October 1, 2003

The anti‐money‐laundering provisions of the USA Patriot Act of 2001 (the “Patriot Act”) continue to cause a profound transformation in the way the United States investment industry conducts its business. Over the past year under the authority of the Patriot Act, which amended the Bank Secrecy Act (“BSA”), the United States Department of Treasury (“Treasury”) and the relevant federal regulators have issued rules requiring a broad range of compliance mechanisms, including: the establishment of anti‐money‐laundering (“AML”) programs; the filing of suspicious activity reports; the prohibition against providing financial services to foreign shell banks (i.e., banks without physical locations); the maintenance of records with respect to accounts for foreign banks; and the sharing of transactional information among financial institutions and between financial institutions and law enforcement.