12 U.S.C. § 3414 : US Code - Section 3414: Special procedures

Search 12 U.S.C. § 3414 : US Code - Section 3414: Special procedures

(a) Access to financial records for certain intelligence and
protective purposes
(1) Nothing in this chapter (except sections 3415, 3417, 3418,
and 3421 (!1) of this title) shall apply to the production and
disclosure of financial records pursuant to requests from -
(A) a Government authority authorized to conduct foreign
counter- or foreign positive-intelligence activities for purposes
of conducting such activities;
(B) the Secret Service for the purpose of conducting its
protective functions (18 U.S.C. 3056; 18 U.S.C. 3056A, Public Law
90-331,(!1) as amended); or
(C) a Government authority authorized to conduct investigations
of, or intelligence or counterintelligence analyses related to,
international terrorism for the purpose of conducting such
investigations or analyses.
(2) In the instances specified in paragraph (1), the Government
authority shall submit to the financial institution the certificate
required in section 3403(b) of this title signed by a supervisory
official of a rank designated by the head of the Government
authority.
(3)(A) If the Government authority described in paragraph (1) or
the Secret Service, as the case may be, certifies that otherwise
there may result a danger to the national security of the United
States, interference with a criminal, counterterrorism, or
counterintelligence investigation, interference with diplomatic
relations, or danger to the life or physical safety of any person,
no financial institution, or officer, employee, or agent of such
institution, shall disclose to any person (other than those to whom
such disclosure is necessary to comply with the request or an
attorney to obtain legal advice or legal assistance with respect to
the request) that the Government authority or the Secret Service
has sought or obtained access to a customer's financial records.
(B) The request shall notify the person or entity to whom the
request is directed of the nondisclosure requirement under
subparagraph (A).
(C) Any recipient disclosing to those persons necessary to comply
with the request or to an attorney to obtain legal advice or legal
assistance with respect to the request shall inform such persons of
any applicable nondisclosure requirement. Any person who receives a
disclosure under this subsection shall be subject to the same
prohibitions on disclosure under subparagraph (A).
(D) At the request of the authorized Government authority or the
Secret Service, any person making or intending to make a disclosure
under this section shall identify to the requesting official of the
authorized Government authority or the Secret Service the person to
whom such disclosure will be made or to whom such disclosure was
made prior to the request, except that nothing in this section
shall require a person to inform the requesting official of the
authorized Government authority or the Secret Service of the
identity of an attorney to whom disclosure was made or will be made
to obtain legal advice or legal assistance with respect to the
request for financial records under this subsection.
(4) The Government authority specified in paragraph (1) shall
compile an annual tabulation of the occasions in which this section
was used.
(5)(A) Financial institutions, and officers, employees, and
agents thereof, shall comply with a request for a customer's or
entity's financial records made pursuant to this subsection by the
Federal Bureau of Investigation when the Director of the Federal
Bureau of Investigation (or the Director's designee in a position
not lower than Deputy Assistant Director at Bureau headquarters or
a Special Agent in Charge in a Bureau field office designated by
the Director) certifies in writing to the financial institution
that such records are sought for foreign counter intelligence (!2)
purposes to protect against international terrorism or clandestine
intelligence activities, provided that such an investigation of a
United States person is not conducted solely upon the basis of
activities protected by the first amendment to the Constitution of
the United States.
(B) The Federal Bureau of Investigation may disseminate
information obtained pursuant to this paragraph only as provided in
guidelines approved by the Attorney General for foreign
intelligence collection and foreign counterintelligence
investigations conducted by the Federal Bureau of Investigation,
and, with respect to dissemination to an agency of the United
States, only if such information is clearly relevant to the
authorized responsibilities of such agency.
(C) On the dates provided in section 415b of title 50, the
Attorney General shall fully inform the congressional intelligence
committees (as defined in section 401a of title 50) concerning all
requests made pursuant to this paragraph.
(D) Prohibition of certain disclosure. -
(i) If the Director of the Federal Bureau of Investigation, or
his designee in a position not lower than Deputy Assistant
Director at Bureau headquarters or a Special Agent in Charge in a
Bureau field office designated by the Director, certifies that
otherwise there may result a danger to the national security of
the United States, interference with a criminal,
counterterrorism, or counterintelligence investigation,
interference with diplomatic relations, or danger to the life or
physical safety of any person, no financial institution, or
officer, employee, or agent of such institution, shall disclose
to any person (other than those to whom such disclosure is
necessary to comply with the request or an attorney to obtain
legal advice or legal assistance with respect to the request)
that the Federal Bureau of Investigation has sought or obtained
access to a customer's or entity's financial records under
subparagraph (A).
(ii) The request shall notify the person or entity to whom the
request is directed of the nondisclosure requirement under clause
(i).
(iii) Any recipient disclosing to those persons necessary to
comply with the request or to an attorney to obtain legal advice
or legal assistance with respect to the request shall inform such
persons of any applicable nondisclosure requirement. Any person
who receives a disclosure under this subsection shall be subject
to the same prohibitions on disclosure under clause (i).
(iv) At the request of the Director of the Federal Bureau of
Investigation or the designee of the Director, any person making
or intending to make a disclosure under this section shall
identify to the Director or such designee the person to whom such
disclosure will be made or to whom such disclosure was made prior
to the request, except that nothing in this section shall require
a person to inform the Director or such designee of the identity
of an attorney to whom disclosure was made or will be made to
obtain legal advice or legal assistance with respect to the
request for financial records under subparagraph (A).
(b) Emergency access to financial records
(1) Nothing in this chapter shall prohibit a Government authority
from obtaining financial records from a financial institution if
the Government authority determines that delay in obtaining access
to such records would create imminent danger of -
(A) physical injury to any person;
(B) serious property damage; or
(C) flight to avoid prosecution.
(2) In the instances specified in paragraph (1), the Government
shall submit to the financial institution the certificate required
in section 3403(b) of this title signed by a supervisory official
of a rank designated by the head of the Government authority.
(3) Within five days of obtaining access to financial records
under this subsection, the Government authority shall file with the
appropriate court a signed, sworn statement of a supervisory
official of a rank designated by the head of the Government
authority setting forth the grounds for the emergency access. The
Government authority shall thereafter comply with the notice
provisions of section 3409(c) of this title.
(4) The Government authority specified in paragraph (1) shall
compile an annual tabulation of the occasions in which this section
was used.
(d) (!3) Definition of "financial institution"
For purposes of this section, and sections 3415 and 3417 of this
title insofar as they relate to the operation of this section, the
term "financial institution" has the same meaning as in subsections
(a)(2) and (c)(1) of section 5312 of title 31, except that, for
purposes of this section, such term shall include only such a
financial institution any part of which is located inside any State
or territory of the United States, the District of Columbia, Puerto
Rico, Guam, American Samoa, the Commonwealth of the Northern
Mariana Islands, or the United States Virgin Islands.