> the regulations that require institutions moving money between two parties to positively identify each of those two parties.

There is much more to it than that. If that were all KYC was, it wouldn't need regulations, because banks would need to do it anyway.

I've had banks straight out ask me, on the phone, what a wire transfer that I executed via their online system was for. And unlike, say, a traffic stop where when the cop starts fishing for things unrelated to the stop, you can exercise your right to remain silent, in the banking scenario the consequences for that can be losing access to your account, losing funds, and everything that follows from that.

Some of the info required by KYC:

* Why the customer wants an account

* Expected types of transactions

* Expected source and approximate volume of funds

* For businesses, the nature of the business and expected banking activity

* Source of funds

This can all translate into very invasive questions, especially when you do something that a computer system or middle manager thinks is suspicious, like sending money to your mother in another country.