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EU Privacy Laws Impede Customer Screening, Say Consultants
By Matt Squire
printA renewed emphasis on customer data privacy in the European Union is making it difficult for U.S. financial institutions to conduct background checks on EU customers, and in some cases has exposed them to fines, according to legal consultants. "As we get farther away from 9/11, [EU authorities] are becoming more aggressive" on privacy issues, said Judith Lee, a partner with Gibson Dunn & Crutcher in Washington, D.C. This aggressiveness can lead to legal hassles and fines for unwary financial institutions. Even screening potential European Union customer names against the U.S. Treasury Department's list of blocked foreign nationals can be...
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