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Sending Too Much Information on SAR Follow-ups Could Spell Trouble
By Brian Monroe
printPoorly thought out responses to law enforcement requests for additional information on suspicious activity can end up exposing banks to civil lawsuits or regulatory actions, according to compliance professionals. Under federal regulations, financial institutions must hand over relevant data on the subjects of suspicious activity requests they file with the U.S. Treasury Department. Under the Right to Financial Privacy Act, banks are generally prohibited from disclosing customer records to a government agency without due legal process, however. Because violations of either law can mean paying regulatory fines or civil damages, how to answer law enforcement requests is cause for deliberation...
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