08/20/2012
What is the definition of a customer? What is the definition of a non-customer?
10/18/2010
Regarding a question published 1/21/08: "Certificate of Compliance Guidance Needed", we received an IRS summons of financial records and would like to verify that we do need to obtain a Certificate of Compliance. We notified the IRS that we would need one prior to our release of records and they did not know what we were talking about. Finally they faxed us "Part D", and are not happy that we are even asking for this information. We just need to find out if this is something that we should still be obtaining when we receive government issued Request for Financial Records.
11/16/2009
Our bank received a Financial Records Summons (form 6639) from the IRS. The record keeper processed the request and submitted the requested items within two days of receipt of the information. Upon review of the form, a reference to Sec. 7609 'Special procedures for third-party summons' was noted. The wording in this section is very similar to the wording in the Right to Financial Privacy Act which gives the individual the opportunity to quash the summons. Should we have required a certificate verifying that the period to quash had expired prior to releasing the documentation?
05/18/2009
The bank has recently received a subpoena for one of our customers. The investigation is being conducted by state agencies. Does the federal version of the Right to Financial Privacy still apply? Do we still need a letter of compliance and does the bank need to wait for the customer to contest?
02/16/2009
Are banks allowed to tell a check cashing service over the phone if a customer's check is good under the Financial Privacy Act?
02/25/2008
I have been given the task of putting together policy and procedures for disclosing customer financial information to government authorities. New to this subject I have no idea where to start, any suggestions?
01/21/2008
I’m an operations specialist and I was reading the article <a href="http://www.bankersonline.com/compliance/mbg_banktrapped.html">"Bank Trapped in RFPA Violation Through Army Subpoena"</a>. We were then going through our own privacy policy and realized that we did not know what a certificate of compliance looked like or what is needed to be included in it to cover the bank legally. Who in a government agency is allowed to sign off on the certificate of compliance? I was hoping you might be able to tell me what all is in the certificate or be able to point me to an example of what one might look like.
10/30/2006
Does a deceased person have the right to financial privacy? If a bank turns over money from a deceased customer's bank account to law enforcement without a warrant can the estate object? Does the estate stand in the shoes of the deceased owner of the account?
10/02/2006
We have received a letter and a form 12470 from the IRS requesting information on a loan customer. They are requesting the customer address, employer address, how long employed, amount of obligation, date of obligation, amount of payments and due dates, etc. The IRS letter states that they are requesting this information under section 7602 of the Internal Revenue Code. Does this meet the requirements of the Right To Financial Privacy Act to release information on this borrower?
10/01/2005
Evaluating an institution's compliance with privacy requirements is one of those things that is simply difficult to get a handle on.