By PAUL O’DONOGHUE, Senior Correspondent
THE U.S. Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN) has clarified that banks can alert customers to potentially fraudulent transactions without breaching Suspicious Activity Reports (SARs) confidentiality requirements.
Banks can also communicate with customers about other suspicious activity and account closures, FinCEN said.
“This statement does not alter existing Bank Secrecy Act (BSA) legal or regulatory requirements or establish new supervisory expectations,” the organisation said.
The agency issued a joint statement with the Federal Reserve, Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC), National Credit Union Administration (NCUA) and Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC).
The statement aims to clarify how banks can comply with SAR confidentiality requirements while providing customers with information during fraud investigations.
FinCEN said the confidentiality requirements “do not preclude banks from communicating with their customers” about potentially fraudulent transactions and other suspicious activity.
The agencies also clarified that banks can communicate with customers about account closures.
FinCEN said this communication can take place “as part of the bank’s fraud investigation”.
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