Checks on Employees of Banks and Related Entities

Criminal History Record Information Checks on Employees of Banking-Related Institutions or Entities

Public Law 92‑544 (found in the notes to 28 United States Code § 534) authorizes the FBI to exchange records "with officials of federally chartered or insured banking institutions to promote or maintain the security of those institutions." The same broad language is used in the regulation governing such checks at 28 CFR § 50.12(a).

Pursuant to this authority, the banking industry for many years has conducted criminal history record information (CHRI) checks on employees of federally chartered or insured banking institutions. Due to evolving business practices and methods of operation in the banking industry, the FBI has received requests from the industry for clarification of the authority to conduct CHRI checks on employees of other entities, such as bank subsidiaries, holding companies, and contractors, that have a direct relationship with a banking institution, affecting the security of the institution, and the authority to provide the results of the CHRI checks to officials of bank holding companies involved in the human resource decisions of banking institutions held by such companies. The FBI takes this opportunity to clarify that: (1) employees of bank subsidiaries, holding companies and contractors who are intimately involved in the management or operations of a banking institution or who otherwise have access to a bank’s restricted areas, infrastructure, or assets, may be subject to CHRI checks, and (2) officials to whom criminal history record checks results may be returned include officials of bank holding companies who are involved in the human resource decisions of banking institutions held by such companies.