From: List Manager <ListManager@DefendYourPrivacy.com>
Date: Friday, March 19, 1999
Subject: "Know Your Customer Update" #2
PRIVACY NEWS UPDATE #2
THANK YOU AGAIN! for signing our petition to stop the FDIC's proposed "Know Your Customer"
rule.
IN THIS UPDATE:
1) 171,268 sign online petition against Know Your Customer! 2) Know Your Customer
is wounded - but is it really dead? 3) Will the real "Know Your Customer" repeal
legislation please stand up! 4) More cosponsors for HR 516: "The Know Your Customer
Sunset Act" 5) Quote of the week
Here's what's going on with the FDIC's proposed "Know Your Customer" regulation:
1) 171,268 signed online petition against Know Your Customer!
The FDIC received over 250,000 letters, e-mail messages, and faxes during its public
comment period, which ended on March 8. Of those, 171,268 were generated by the online
petition at http://www.DefendYourPrivacy.com! This represents over 67% of all the
comments received by the FDIC! Thank you for your help in this vital fight for personal
privacy.
The success of this cyber-campaign has been noted in articles in Wired, World Net
Daily, and the New York Times. Visit the media page at http://www.DefendYourPrivacy.com
for links to these and other articles about the campaign and Know Your Customer.
2) Know Your Customer is wounded - but is it really dead?
On March 8, the head of the FDIC announced that "the public has spoken very loudly
and clearly." Chairwoman Donna Tanoue said that she will urge the FDIC's board to
drop the controversial rule at their next meeting, scheduled for March 23.
However, only two of the four agencies that originally sponsored Know Your Customer
have said that the regulation should be scraped. While both the FDIC and the Comptroller
of the Currency have spoken against the regulation, neither the Office of Thrift
Supervision nor the Federal Reserve has taken a public position. All four agencies had
proposed nearly identical versions of Know Your Customer regulations.
In addition, an FDIC spokesman had stated previously that the agency might withdraw
the regulation, but implement Know Your Customer-style requirements as a "policy"
instead. That's why it's too soon to claim the rule is DOA. Even if the FDIC decides
to kill it, which hasn't happened yet, the same bureaucrats who first proposed this dangerous
regulation could quietly bring it back after the public outcry has subsided.
3) Will the real "Know Your Customer" repeal legislation please stand up!
In the wake of the public outcry against Know Your Customer, it seems like everyone
in Congress is leaping forward to claim credit for killing it. But, how many of these
repeal efforts actually accomplished anything?
In the House Banking Committee, Rep. Ron Paul (R-TX) sponsored amendment 8 to HR 10
that would have prohibited the FDIC from implementing any form of Know Your Customer
regulation. Rep. Bob Barr (R-GA) and Richard Baker (R-AL) introduced a much weaker
substitute amendment that ultimately passed the committee. The Barr-Baker amendment would
block the current Know Your Customer proposal, but leave the door open for similar
proposals in the future. Barr spoke against the tougher version in committee. The
bill still has to be approved by the full House and Senate, and be signed by the President,
before becoming law.
The U.S. Senate voted 88-0 to ask the FDIC to withdraw its proposed Know Your Customer
rule. While symbolically important, the resolution lacks the force of law, and doesn't
repeal the authority of the FDIC and other financial institutions to impose Know
Your Customer regulations.
Thus far, HR 516, introduced by Rep. Paul, is the only bill that would immediately
terminate all Know Your Customer regulations, and prevent any similar regulation
in the future.
4) More cosponsors for HR 516: "The Know Your Customer Sunset Act"
Support for HR 516, "The Know Your Customer Sunset Act", is bipartisan and growing
rapidly. The bill now has 47 cosponsors, including influential members like Majority
Whip Tom Delay and Judiciary Committee Chairman Henry Hyde. Information on HR 516,
including a complete list of cosponsors, is now available at http://www.DefendYourPrivacy.com.
We also plan to begin a new petition campaign to build support for legislation to
permanently stop Know Your Customer. In the meantime, contact your local Congressman and ask him to cosponsor HR 516.
The office of Rep. Paul will host a Congressional staff briefing ("Should We Require
Banks to Spy on Their Customers?") on Friday, March 19th.
5) Quote of the week - By Joseph Farah, World Net Daily
"While the unanimous vote by the Senate and the likely withdrawal of the "Know Your
Customer" proposal at the FDIC are developments worth cheering about, they will represent
nothing more than temporary victories for freedom and constitutional rights. The
government will be back. There will be new attempts to find out how you are spending
the small amount of money your "public servants" permit you to keep. When you least
expect it, they will be back in your pocket and snooping in your private affairs
once again."
DefendYourPrivacy.com is provided as a public service by the Libertarian Party.
To request information about the Libertarian Party, please visit http://www.lp.org/lp-membership-iform.html?
To support this project financially, please visit http://www.lp.org/lp-kyc-contrib.html
To join the Libertarian Party please visit http://www.lp.org/lp-membership.html
BACK TO THE FIRST HOME PAGE OF THIS SITE