Treasury Confirms EO for Banks to Verify Citizenship

U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent confirmed on April 13, 2026, that the Trump administration is developing an executive order requiring banks to collect proof of citizenship from customers, a measure aimed at enhancing oversight of the financial system amid broader immigration enforcement efforts.

Speaking at a Semafor-hosted dinner in Washington, D.C., Bessent described the initiative as reasonable and necessary for transparency. "It's in process. And I don't think it's unreasonable, because, why don't we have information on who's in our banking system?" he said. He drew a comparison to practices in the United Kingdom, where property owners track residents in apartment buildings, adding, "I have a place in the UK they want to know who lives in every apartment and how do we know that it's not part of a foreign terrorist organization?"

The proposed order would mandate banks to verify citizenship using documents such as passports or birth certificates, applying to both new account holders and existing customers. Commonly used identifications like REAL IDs, which confirm identity but not citizenship, would not suffice. Details on implementation, including timelines and handling...