April 10, 2005

The New York Times > National > U.S. Seeks Access to Bank Records to Deter Terror

No burden on financial institutions is to heavy if it prevents further terrorism. All measures must be used to prevent another 9/11 or worse. The terrorists are patients. They may wait years between attacks.

["It is the common fate of the indolent to see their rights become a prey to the active. The condition upon which God hath given liberty to man is eternal vigilance; which condition if he break, servitude is at once the consequence of his crime and the punishment of his guilt." -- John Philpot Curran: Speech upon the Right of Election, 1790. (Speeches. Dublin, 1808.) as quoted in Bartlett's Familiar Quotations]

"The provision authorized the Treasury Department to pursue regulations requiring financial institutions to turn over 'certain cross-border electronic transmittals of funds' that may be needed in combating money laundering and terrorist financing.

The plan for tracking overseas wire transfers is likely to intensify pressure on banks and other financial institutions to comply with the expanding base of provisions to fight money laundering, industry and government officials agreed. The government's aggressive tactics since the attacks of Sept. 11, 2001, have already caused something of a backlash among banking compliance officers - and even some federal officials, who say the effort has gone too far in penalizing the financial sector for lapses and has effectively criminalized what were once seen as technical violations."

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