I have a question regarding CTRs. John and Jane have a joint account together. Jane comes in and withdraws $15,000. We file a CTR on Jane only.
We have always filed a CTR on whoever conducted the transaction. We are now being told that a CTR would need to be filed for both John and Jane. How does everyone else handle this type of situation.

WHO is telling you that you need to fill one out for both? There is no way to prove that John had any kind of benefit for the money that Jane withdrew.
Unless John was present at the time of the withdrawal, you should only file on Jane.

There is no clear-cut guidance but the general consensus is that you cannot go wrong with including all account-owners of CTRs for deposits and withdrawals.

For withdrawals we have always filed only on the individual(s) present. If only one party of a joint account is present we file only on that person.

http://www.bankersonline.com/forum/ubbthreads.php?ubb=showflat&Number=1797373

Oops, Ken suggests otherwise here.

And this is how we have operated in the past as well.

I just called FinCEN and left a message. They called me back within 5 minutes!!! So, I was told that it's strictly an institutional call even when BOTH owners are present. He said that the knowledge on who is benefitting from the funds should be derived from conversation or observation from the customer. He said the bottom line is that you would need to be able to give an explanation to an examiner if asked. He said, even if both owners are present, it doesn't necessarily mean they are both benefitting from it. I guess my take away from this is be consistent with your filings. When we have one individual present for a cash withdrawal, we file only on that person. If we have both owners present, we file on both.

Thank you for your input!!!

Wow, a call back in 5 minutes and GOOD CLEAR information! Thanks ComplianceGurl!

I know!!! I was quite impressed! I wonder though if I called back I'd get the same answer! haha!

Yeah, it is just too bad the answer was not consistent with their other printed materials.