USA PATRIOT Act, Title III

The USA PATRIOT Act was passed by the United States Congress in 2001 as a response to the September 11, 2001 attacks. It has ten titles, each containing numerous sections. Title III: International Money Laundering Abatement and Financial Anti-Terrorism Act of 2001 is actually an act of Congress in its own right as well as being a title of the USA PATRIOT Act, and is intended to facilitate the prevention, detection and prosecution of international money laundering and the financing of terrorism. The title's sections primarily amend portions of the Money Laundering Control Act of 1986 and the Bank Secrecy Act of 1970.

The provisions of Title III are divided into three subtitles. The first deals primarily with strengthening banking rules specifically against money laundering, especially on the international stage. Communication between law enforcement agencies and financial institutions, as well as among institutions, is expanded by the second subtitle, which also increases record keeping and reporting requirements. The final portion of the title deals with currency smuggling and counterfeiting, including quadrupling the maximum penalty for counterfeiting foreign currency.

The United States Congress found that money laundering "provides the financial fuel that permits transnational criminal enterprises to conduct and expand their operations to the detriment of the safety and security of American citizens" and that it is critical to the financing of global terrorism and terrorist attacks. Money laundering is used "as protective covering for the movement of criminal proceeds and the financing of crime and terrorism". Findings (4) and (5) state that:

Congress in particular noted that correspondent accounts are vulnerable to use by money launderers as it is easier to obscure the identities of the owners of such accounts than with other types of bank accounts, and that private banking services can be susceptible to manipulation by money launderers.

Congress also found that:

and

The purposes of the title are defined in section 302. It states that:

The Act has provisions to allow title III to expire after the first day of fiscal year 2005. The title would terminate if Congress enacted a joint resolution with the text after the resolving clause being:

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