The anti-terrorism effort has been met with concern by foreign government and business leaders as well as privacy rights activists, who said it could drive up costs and infringe on privacy.
Among them was Sarah Ludford, a British Member of the European Parliament, who accused the US of “constantly moving the goalposts" in its approach to acquiring and handling personal information for security reasons.
"We need an overarching EU-US deal not only on privacy safeguards but also on the broad limits of what personal information will be sought by law enforcement agencies,” Ludford said in a statement today.
"MEPS are fully supportive of necessary and proportionate efforts to catch major criminals. But the US must be stopped from trashing the international boundaries of privacy."
According to the Associated Press news agency, the new requirements are expected to boost the ability of the US Treasury Department’s Financial Crimes Enforcement Network to track the source of funding for terrorists.
An AP story noted that under current regulations, banks are required to report only cash transactions above $10,000, in addition to having to keep records on all electronic transfers of money in and out of the country above $3,000, and provide that information to law enforcement officials only if asked to do so.
Bank of America said in a statement that the proposed new rules would be analysed to determine their likely impact, the AP said.
