Three dates frame Title III:
- 26 October 2001. Public Law 107-56 is signed. Its Title III carries a name of its own, the International Money Laundering Abatement and Financial Anti-Terrorism Act of 2001.
- 10 April 2026. FinCEN proposes to reform the anti money laundering programs that section 352 wrote into 31 U.S.C. 5318(h). Comments closed on 9 June; no final rule had appeared by 29 October 2026.
- 27 October 2026. FinCEN's 314(a) fact sheet counts 9,587 requests processed: 966 in terrorism cases and 8,621 in money laundering cases.
The Act is one of the laws behind anti money laundering in the US, and Title III is the part compliance teams work from.
What is the USA PATRIOT Act, and is it still in effect?
The USA PATRIOT Act is a US statute in ten titles, passed "to deter and punish terrorist acts in the United States and around the world, to enhance law enforcement investigatory tools, and for other purposes". Title III is the AML part. It amended the Bank Secrecy Act, so its duties now read as sections of 31 U.S.C. 5318 and 5318A and of FinCEN's rules in 31 CFR chapter X.
Title III is still in effect. Section 303 let Congress end it by joint resolution from fiscal year 2005, yet today's Title 31 still carries every duty in Table 1. The sunset in section 224, 31 December 2005, covered surveillance provisions of Title II, not the money laundering duties. Later laws built on Title III: the AML Act of 2020 wrote countering the financing of terrorism into the program duty of 5318(h), and FinCEN's 2026 proposal speaks of AML/CFT programs.
Which Title III sections reach a financial institution?
Table 1. The PATRIOT Act's key sections for AML and where each sits today (as of October 2026).
| Section | What it requires | Where it sits today | Note |
|---|---|---|---|
| 311 | The Secretary of the Treasury may impose up to five special measures on a jurisdiction, institution, class of transactions or account type of primary money laundering concern | 31 U.S.C. 5318A | Final rule on Huione Group, 16 October 2025 (90 FR 48295) |
| 312 | Establish a due diligence program for correspondent accounts of foreign banks and private banking accounts, enhanced where necessary | 31 U.S.C. 5318(i); 31 CFR 1010.610 and 1010.620 | Applies to covered financial institutions |
| 313 | No correspondent account for a foreign shell bank | 31 U.S.C. 5318(j); 31 CFR 1010.630 | A certification from each foreign bank at least once every three years |
| 314(a) | Search records for the subjects FinCEN sends and report matches | 31 CFR 1010.520 | Report "in the time frame specified in FinCEN's request" |
| 314(b) | Voluntary sharing between institutions after a notice to FinCEN | 31 CFR 1010.540 | Sharing is "protected from liability"; the notice lasts one year |
| 319(b) | Account records within 120 hours of a banking agency's request; a summons or subpoena to a foreign bank with a US correspondent account | 31 U.S.C. 5318(k) | The bank must keep records of the foreign bank's owners and of a US agent for service |
| 326 | A customer identification program | 31 U.S.C. 5318(l); 31 CFR 1020.220 for banks | Four data points and a check against Treasury designated lists |
| 352 | An AML program: internal policies, procedures and controls, a compliance officer, ongoing training, an independent audit | 31 U.S.C. 5318(h); 31 CFR 1020.210 for banks | The bank rule adds ongoing customer due diligence |
Section 311 can shut a foreign institution out of US correspondent banking. Once Treasury finds it of primary money laundering concern, a special measure can bar covered US institutions from opening or maintaining a correspondent account for it, as the Huione rule did in October 2025.
Sections 312 and 313 work on the same channel: a US bank that offers correspondent banking to foreign banks has to know whom it serves, refuse shell banks and renew each foreign bank's certification.
What is a 314(a) request, and how is 314(b) different?
FinCEN's 314(a) fact sheet, last updated on 27 October 2026, gives the cycle:
- A law enforcement agency asks for a search and certifies credible evidence of terrorist financing or money laundering.
- Every two weeks FinCEN tells each institution's designated contacts that a new subject list waits on a secure portal.
- The institution searches accounts the subject held in the preceding 12 months, and transactions not linked to an account from the past 6 months.
- It reports positive matches within two weeks of the posting date. With no match, it is "instructed not to reply".
- A match is "lead information only and is not a substitute for a subpoena".
Section 314(b) runs between institutions instead: after filing a notice, a bank may share information on possible money laundering or terrorist activity with another participant under a safe harbor. FinCEN's 314(b) fact sheet of 12 June 2026 adds that the shared information can concern fraud and can move in real time.
What banks call a Patriot Act search is the 314(a) cycle. It is lead information for law enforcement, not sanctions screening and not the CIP list check, so a bank's procedures keep the three searches apart.
What has FinCEN done under Title III in 2026?
- 2 March: a section 311 proposal against MBaer Merchant Bank AG of Switzerland (91 FR 10034).
- 10 April: the AML/CFT program proposal, still not final.
- 25 June: a proposal to bring Huione Pay PLC, under its new name, and any successor entity into the Huione Group definition (91 FR 38340).
- 1 September: a section 311 proposal against the five UAE branches of Banque Misr (91 FR 56085).
- 6 October: FinCEN withdrew its section 311 finding and proposal on international convertible virtual currency mixing (91 FR 63513).
- 27 October: the 314(a) fact sheet's new count.
What does the PATRIOT Act require for KYC?
Section 326 added 31 U.S.C. 5318(l), the basis of the customer identification program rule. For a bank, 31 CFR 1020.220 asks for four data points before the account opens: name, date of birth for an individual, address and an identification number. The bank verifies them by risk based procedures, keeps the identifying information for five years after the account closes, and checks the customer against any list of known or suspected terrorists "designated as such by Treasury".
Know your customer (KYC) under the Act reaches past CIP: section 312 adds correspondent and private banking due diligence, and the bank program rule adds ongoing customer due diligence.
What does a US bank run because of the PATRIOT Act?
Patriot Act compliance at a bank means nine routines:
- A written AML program with section 352's four elements, plus the ongoing customer due diligence that 1020.210 adds for banks.
- CIP at account opening (section 326).
- Correspondent and private banking due diligence under section 312.
- Shell bank certifications under section 313, renewed at least once every three years.
- 314(a) searches every two weeks.
- A 314(b) notice before any sharing, filed again each year because a notice lasts one year.
- Section 311 reviews of correspondent accounts against each final special measure.
- Account records within 120 hours when a banking agency asks (section 319(b)).
- Suspicious activity reports: a 314(a) match or 314(b) information can feed a suspicious activity report decision, and FinCEN's 314(b) fact sheet names fuller SARs as one aim of sharing.
Not every routine reaches every firm. The industries governed by section 352's program duty also include broker dealers, money services businesses and casinos, each under its own part of 31 CFR chapter X; investment advisers join on 1 January 2028, after FinCEN delayed their rule by two years (91 FR 36).
For the tooling, complead, formerly Sanction Scanner, offers AML for banks on one platform, where onboarding, screening, risk scoring, transaction monitoring and case management all work from the same customer record. The bank's compliance officer still decides what is reported.
What did the PATRIOT Act amend?
Title III did not start US AML law. It amended the Bank Secrecy Act of 1970, whose rules set the record and report lines a bank meets every day: a currency transaction report for cash of more than $10,000 (31 CFR 1010.311), and records for funds transfers of $3,000 or more (1010.410). Neither line caps what a customer may send.
Related terms
- Customer identification program (CIP). The identity rule from section 326.
- Correspondent banking. Accounts one bank keeps for another.
- Suspicious activity report (SAR). A report on activity a bank suspects.
- Enhanced due diligence (EDD). Deeper checks where risk is higher.
- Bank Secrecy Act (BSA). The 1970 law Title III amended.
- AML Act of 2020. A later reform of the program duty.
How this entry was checked. Each section number in Table 1 follows the Act as passed in 2001, and its third column gives where the duty is codified now. The author, Melis Alparslan (Regional Sales Manager at complead), read the texts behind it: Public Law 107-56 (Title III with sections 224, 301 and 303), 31 U.S.C. 5318 and 5318A, FinCEN's rules at 31 CFR 1010.311, 1010.410, 1010.520, 1010.540, 1010.610, 1010.620, 1010.630, 1020.210 and 1020.220, the 314(a) fact sheet of 27 October 2026, the 314(b) fact sheet of 12 June 2026 and the Federal Register notices linked above, where proposals stay marked as proposals. Ufuk Gürdaş, Compliance Specialist, checks them again before publication. Last reviewed: 30 October 2026.
