Tell us
what you think
Our Sponsors
 |
Our Sponsors
|
Question & Answer
Question: Can a customer be informed of his exemption amount? We have a training video that shows a teller sharing this information with a customer, but recently have had a very reputable instructor who said that the customer was never to get this information. Can you clarify for us?
Answer: Our response came from the Office of Financial Enforcement, Department of the Treasury… There is no prohibition in the law or regulation to letting a customer know what their exemption limit is. HOWEVER, the Department of the Treasury wants you to withhold that information and strongly encourages you not to share that data with the customer.
If the customer insists on knowing their exemption amount, it is suggested that you may want to monitor the activity on the account for awhile to see if it changes. If all transactions start to fall below the exemption limit, where before there was an occasional transaction that went above, it might indicate structuring to avoid filing. In that case, the law requires that you file a Criminal Referral Form and notify the Internal Revenue Service of the customer's transactions.
Also, although a financial institution is not in violation if it informs a customer of their exemption amount, there could be a problem down the line. If, for instance, it turns out that there is money laundering going on through that customer's account, a financial institution could be in a very compromising position trying to provide explanations in the case of an investigation.
Copyright © 1994 Bankers' Hotline. Originally appeared in Bankers' Hotline, Vol. 4, No. 10, 5/94
Rate This Article
Current Rating For the Feature:
| Total Ratings for this Feature: 0 |
|