If ABC Company comes into the bank with a check off of their account to purchase a cashier's check, is the remitter ABC company or the person conducting the transaction for the benifit of the company?

We do not sell monetary instruments to non-customers so we would use the actual customer as the remitter. So in your scenario ABC Company would be the remitter.

But if the purchase is made in cash and triggers the recordkeeping requirement for cash purchases of monetary instruments under FinCEN regulations, it's the warm body that actually brought the cash in who is the purchaser, and you'll need to treat him or her as a depositor or non-depositor on his/her own merits when determining which information to obtain and record.

Yes, good point John! On our monetary instrument log we also list the individual that was physically in the branch to purchase it.

Thank you for your help!

Just a word of caution: If you allow a non-customer to purchase (with cash b/t $3,000 and $10,000) a negotiable instrument on behalf of his/her business/employer, etc., you'll need to maintain that record and scrub the purchaser against 314(a) requests for six months following the transaction. We don't sell negotiable instruments to non-customers, but some tellers mistakenly thought it was okay for a non-customer to purchase on behalf of a customer. We got our hands slapped for not including the non-customers in our 314(a) searches. We figured out a way to add their profiles to CIS without dropping off because no account was attached, but it was a pain. Needless to say, much more training and reinforcement on Bank policy has (so far) eliminated the problem.

As a matter of procedure if cash is presented for the purchase of a cashier's check, it is first deposited to the customer's account then withdrawn as a cashier's check. If the cash falls within the limits for reporting, we report, regardless of the procedures to deposit first. By doing this, however, we indicate the business as the remitter.

I understand what John is saying about the warm body (for recordkeeping purposes) but what is the consensus as to who/what is the purchaser or remitter that is usually noted on the Cashier's Check? Would you agree on the check we would indicate the business?

What you type on the check is up to you. Your records must indicate the name of the individual who purchased the item for cash.

Thanks much. That was my understanding also.