USA PATRIOT Act Sections 317 and 319

Sections 317 and 319 of the USA PATRIOT Act (2001) are United States legal authorities that extend jurisdiction and forfeiture procedure over foreign banks through their US correspondent accounts. Section 317 supplies long-arm jurisdiction in defined money-laundering cases touching the United States, while Section 319 permits substitute forfeiture from a foreign bank's interbank account and establishes record-production and service requirements. The correspondent relationship supplies the domestic jurisdictional connection for those defined proceedings.

Provisions

Section 317 confers jurisdiction over a foreign person, including a foreign bank, that commits a money laundering offence involving a financial transaction occurring in whole or in part in the United States, or that maintains a US bank account or correspondent account. Section 319(a), codified at 18 USC 981(k), deems funds deposited with a foreign bank to be deposited in that bank's US correspondent account for forfeiture purposes, so prosecutors can restrain and forfeit an equivalent sum inside US jurisdiction without ever reaching the foreign ledger. Section 319(b) requires foreign banks with US correspondent accounts to appoint US agents for service of process, obliges US institutions to produce correspondent records within 120 hours, and authorises subpoenas for foreign bank records relating to the account, an authority later expanded by the Anti-Money Laundering Act (2020).

Employment and effects

The authorities create a Chokepoint effect at the level of criminal and civil process. Under 18 USC 981(k), property deposited with a foreign bank may be treated as deposited in its United States interbank account for forfeiture, subject to the statute's predicates and procedures. The records power and the authority to terminate a non-compliant correspondent relationship are separate mechanisms under 31 USC 5318(k). Together, they increase the compliance consequences of maintaining United States correspondent access and can contribute to a broader Compliance cascade. Questions about ownership, notice, standing and available challenge depend on the particular proceeding and cannot be resolved from the existence of the correspondent account alone.

Current status and evidentiary limits

Sections 317 and 319 remain in force through amended provisions including 18 USC 981(k) and 31 USC 5318(k). They separate long-arm jurisdiction, substitute forfeiture from an interbank account, foreign-bank records, summons procedure and correspondent-account termination for non-compliance. The provisions do not make every foreign-bank balance automatically forfeitable; the statutory predicates, proceeding and available challenge still govern.

See also

USA PATRIOT Act Title III (2001) · Correspondent-account closure · Extraterritorial jurisdiction and effects-based regulation · Anti-Money Laundering Act (2020) · Economic statecraft

Sources

• USA PATRIOT Act, Public Law 107-56.
• 18 USC 981.
• 31 USC 5318.
• US Justice Department money-laundering manual.