Banks and building societies will be expected to check all accounts Niklas Halle'n/Getty ImagesThe government is to require banks and building societies to conduct immigration checks on all 70 million current account holders from January. The Home Office expects the checks, which will take place quarterly, to identify 6,000 people who have overstayed their visas, been refused asylum or are offenders who face deportation. The banking regulations, approved by parliament in December 2016, are one of a number of measures in the Immigration Act 2016 that aim to encourage illegal immigrants to leave the UK. Checks are already carried out on anyone opening a new bank or building society account under the 2014 Immigration Act but this is the first such requirement on all existing accounts. Freezing the accounts of those identified as illegal is likely to make…

Source: The Times September 22, 2017 00:22 UTC