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Dear Editor:
Concerning the question in the last issue of BANKERS' HOTLINE as to whether a customer should be given a copy of the CTR that a Bank filed on his/her transaction, I beg to differ with FinCEN's response.
The CTR is part of the books and records of the financial institution, and should only be available to the bank's regulators or in response to a lawful search warrant and/or subpoena.
Disclosing the CTR to a bank's customer exposes the institution to possible litigation.
I can think of no viable reason for a customer to need a copy of a CTR.
Leon Ellen, VP
MTB BANK, New York, NY
Former Bank Secrecy Act Specialist, New York State Banking Dept.
Note from Editor: We checked with the IRS in Washington,DC. There is nothing in the laws or the regulations, according to them, that would prohibit a financial
institution from providing a customer with a copy of their CTR (but NEVER an SAR). However, we're inclined to agree with Leon-it could be chancy!)
Note from Editor-We had a call from one of our government contacts who not only reads the HOTLINE, but is kind enough to call us with comments.
In Vol. VII, No. 2 we responded to a question concerning a customer who withdraws only $9,000 in cash at a time and told the bank he "...keeps it to $9,000 so he doesn't have to fill out a CMIR at the border" going into Canada.
We said this was structuring, and had to be reported. Our caller said if all was known to be legitimate,
structuring was not the issue. The point is that ANY ACTION taken to avoid reporting is a violation in
itself and must be reported.
We had two calls recently, one from Kansas and one from Florida, wanting to know if a safe deposit box could be opened with a "P.O.D." (Payable On Death) clause in the lease. We asked our "guru" on safe deposit boxes, Dave McGuinn, president of Safe Deposit Specialists in Houston, Texas to respond.
Copyright © 1997 Bankers' Hotline. Originally appeared in Bankers' Hotline, Vol. 7, No. 3, 2/97
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