Answer:
Answer by Hussam Al-Abed:This might be a red flag that should trigger a SAR. Keep in mind that red flags related to suspicious safe deposit box activity might involve money laundering.
Some examples:
- Customer's activity increases in the safe deposit box area, possibly indicating the safekeeping of large amounts of cash.
- Customer often visits the safe deposit box area immediately before making cash deposits of sums less than $10,000.
- Customer rents multiple safe deposit boxes.
Answer:
Answer by John Burnett:There are no state or federal laws of which I am aware that prohibit the use of a safe deposit box for storing cash. If a bank has a policy banning cash in boxes, it should include a prohibition in its safe deposit rental contract or lease. The bank should not be in a position to know whether a customer stores cash in a safe deposit box. If the bank does become aware of it and the amounts are large or the patterns of box visits seem unusual, the bank should investigate the situation to determine the expediency of filing a SAR.
First published on BankersOnline.com 3/17/08
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