Is there any guidance with customers that continue to structure a transaction to avoid a CTR? Should the bank close the account or allow the activity to continue and keep filing SAR's? Or is this just a bank decision?

Bank decision and should be governed in your SAR procedures. When evaluating whether or not to retain a relationship, management should consider the costs of monitoring and filing SARs every 120 days since it is likely that this relationship is not profitable.

Actually...even if the account is profitable, the bank should consider its compliance and reputation risk when making the decision to retain or close. Deutsche Bank's $150 million fine for continuing to provide services to Jeffery Epstein is only the most recent example of a relationship that should have been exited years before it actually was.

With all the misguided hype about banks laundering money (because their customers are money launderers), there ought to be a lot of banks re-thinking any policy that allows chronic structurers and especially customers the bank suspects are laundering funds to keep their accounts.

One can only imagine why Deutsche Bank allowed Epstein's account to remain open for so long.

More importantly is there a bank policy that guides you on this?
If not that is your first problem,

Most banks have a three strikes (in a lifetime) and you are out.

I never had a three strike rule - it was one and done unless it took sometime to unwind the relationship. 95% of the customers that we filed on were unprofitable to begin with and the continued monitoring, filing and potential for errors that could have resulted in a BSA/AML finding in an examination was just not worth it.

Additionally, these actions should all be pre-outlined in policies and procedures.

The bank should develop policies, procedures, and processes indicating when to escalate issues or problems identified as the result of repeat SAR filings on accounts. The procedures should include:

• Review by senior management and legal staff (e.g., BSA compliance officer or SAR committee).
• Criteria for when analysis of the overall customer relationship is necessary.
• Criteria for whether and, if so, when to close the account.
• Criteria for when to notify law enforcement, if appropriate