US banks are told to step up monitoring of suspicious transactions involving non-citizens, following an order attributed to President Donald Trump, according to reports from India and Malaysia. The guidance focuses on heightened scrutiny of bank activity but stops short of collecting broader client information. Instead, banks are expected to strengthen checks aimed at identifying and escalating potential suspicious transactions under existing compliance and anti-money-laundering frameworks.
While the reporting agrees on the direction of the change—more rigorous review of certain activity tied to non-citizen clients—the accounts differ in detail, including how the monitoring is implemented and the extent of any additional data collection. Both outlets describe the update as a targeted compliance measure for banks rather than a sweeping system that would require banks to gather clients’ personal data beyond what regulations already require. The order is presented as tightening bank oversight of transactions that trigger concerns, with banks taking more proactive steps to flag and handle suspicious activity.
