PART 3

Access to services etc
CHAPTER 2

Other services etc

Bank accounts

Requirement to carry out immigration checks in relation to current accounts
40A
1
A bank or building society must, at such times or with such frequency as is specified in regulations made by the Treasury, carry out an immigration check in relation to each current account held with it that is not an excluded account.
2
For the purposes of this section carrying out an “
immigration check
” in relation to a current account means checking whether, according to information supplied by the Secretary of State to a specified anti-fraud organisation or a specified data-matching authority, the account is operated by or for a disqualified person.
3
A “disqualified person” is a person—
a
who is in the United Kingdom,
b
who requires leave to enter or remain in the United Kingdom but does not have it, and
c
for whom the Secretary of State considers that a current account should not be provided by a bank or building society.
4
A current account is an excluded account for the purposes of subsection (1) if the account is operated by or for a person or body of a description specified in regulations made by the Treasury.
5
An account is operated by or for a person or body if the person or body is an account holder or a signatory or identified as a beneficiary in relation to the account.
6
A bank or building society must—
a
make arrangements with a specified anti-fraud organisation or a specified data-matching authority for the purpose of enabling the bank or building society to carry out immigration checks in relation to current accounts, and
b
pay any reasonable fee required to be paid under those arrangements.
7
In this section “
specified anti-fraud organisation
” and “
specified data-matching authority
” have the same meaning as in section 40(3)(a).
Ss. 40A-40H inserted (1.11.2016 for specified purposes, 30.10.2017 in so far as not already in force) by Immigration Act 2016 (c. 19), s. 94(1), Sch. 7 para. 2; S.I. 2016/1037, reg. 2(d); S.I. 2017/929, reg. 2(b)