Info on ‘suspicious activity’ reports may be shared – but not specific reference to reports, agencies declare

Banks and credit unions are not barred from sharing information contained on anti-money laundering reports about potentially fraudulent or other suspicious transactions with other financial institutions or customers if the existence of the report is not revealed, federal agencies said Wednesday in a joint statement.

The federal banking agencies, along with the National Credit Union Administration (NCUA) and the Treasury’s Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN) said the statement was designed to clarify confidentiality requirements related to Suspicious Activity Reports (SARs).

“This joint statement is particularly relevant when banks communicate with their customers regarding potentially fraudulent transactions, other suspicious activity (e.g., payment fraud, including check fraud), or account closures,” the agencies said.

More specifically, the agencies said SAR confidentiality does not prohibit banks and credit unions from communicating with a customer or other person who may be the subject of an SAR or with third parties, (including banks and credit unions) when the communication involves the underlying facts, transactions, and documents upon which an SAR is based.

“Specifically, the factual information related to transactions, including, but not limited to, transaction dates, amounts, and parties, may be discussed assuming there is no communication that would reveal the existence of a SAR to a customer or other person who is the subject of a SAR or to other third parties including other banks or credit unions,” the statement said. “Although a reasonable and prudent person familiar with the SAR filing requirement may suspect or be able to deduce from these underlying facts, transactions, and documents that a SAR was or may have been filed, the underlying information alone would not constitute information revealing the existence of a SAR for confidentiality purposes.”

Generally, the agencies said, banks and credit unions “should consider customer communication on a case-by-case basis and take precautions when discussing information that could reveal the existence of a SAR,” the agencies said.

Joint Statement on Suspicious Activity Report Confidentiality Considerations Regarding Communications with Customers