in effect
Executive Order 14406, signed May 19, 2026, directs federal financial regulators and the Treasury Department to tighten anti-money-laundering rules and update lending guidance with a focus on financial activity connected to people who are not authorized to work in the United States. It does not itself change any law or regulation but sets deadlines for agencies to propose, issue, or consider specific regulatory changes.
Within 60 days, the Treasury must publish an advisory listing specific warning signs (“red flags”) that banks should watch for, including patterns of payroll tax evasion, use of shell companies or nominee accounts, structuring cash transactions to stay under reporting thresholds, and use of an Individual Taxpayer Identification Number (ITIN) without verified immigration status. Within 90 days, Treasury must propose updates to Bank Secrecy Act regulations that would let banks collect immigration status and work-authorization information as part of their customer due diligence programs when other risk factors are present. Within 180 days, Treasury and the banking regulators must consider additional changes to customer identification program rules, including how foreign consular ID cards are treated. Separately, within 60 days the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau must consider clarifying that the risk of deportation and resulting wage loss can legally be weighed by lenders when assessing a borrower’s ability to repay a loan, and the banking regulators must issue guidance on managing credit risk tied to borrowers who lack work authorization.
Banks, credit unions, mortgage lenders, and other covered financial institutions will face potential new requirements to collect more identity and immigration-status information from customers and to flag a broader set of transaction patterns to regulators. Individuals who use ITINs instead of Social Security numbers to open accounts or obtain credit — a group that includes many immigrants regardless of their specific legal situation — may face heightened scrutiny or additional documentation requests under the updated due diligence framework. Employers of workers without legal work authorization are specifically named as subjects of the suspicious-activity red flags that banks will be directed to monitor and report.