01/04/2010
When cash is missing, are there any prescribed questions that should be asked of employees in an interview that will tend to make it more effective?
11/09/2009
We have a customer who recently requested a wire transfer that made us very nervous. When we began asking the necessary questions, the customer became irate and threatened calling his attorney. The wire was going out of the country. Can we refuse to process a wire transfer or do we go ahead and process and follow up with a SAR?
11/09/2009
When filing a SAR for check kiting, part of our process is to set an alert on our teller system that directs tellers not to accept deposits from the suspect customer that include checks the customer has drawn on accounts in other banks. We do this instead of closing the account. Does anyone else do this? If so, what do you tell your customer? I know we cannot say anything about the SAR or that we have knowledge they are kiting, so what else can we actually tell them for an explanation?
11/02/2009
How much information can a financial institution share with another financial institution that is under the 314(b)?
10/26/2009
Is there a certification course available for financial institution security officers?
10/19/2009
I work in bank fraud cases. We have a case management system in which we input all of our fraud cases (forgeries, counterfeit checks, unauthorized check card trans,etc...). We are trying to make a determination as to the difference between "recovery" and "loss avoidance" when it comes to bank fraud. Could you please help with a clear understanding on what determines in which category an item would fall?
10/12/2009
I came across several checks while completing a forensic examination which had a blank or restrictive endorsement followed by a Prior Endorsement Guarantee (PEG) stamp. These checks were part of a forged endorsement of the true payee. They were deposited at the fraud perpetrator's depositary bank. Does the PEG stamp constitute a second endorsement? What liability, if any, exists between the depositary and the true payee for the use of this stamp on items containing forged endorsements?
10/12/2009
A customer informed us by email in Aug. '09, that some of his checks were fraudulently signed by someone else in 2007. The customer said he told us in 2007, but we have no record that he did so. Our signature cards say that someone has sixty days to inform us of fraud. What is our position? Are we liable?
10/01/2009
This section of The SAR Activity Review focuses on patterns of BSA reporting, specifically as it relates to mortgage loan fraud, as well as trends in how financial institutions file their BSA repor
10/01/2009
Update: Auditing the AML Program ? What?s New?
By Alan S. Abel, CPA, representing the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants to the Bank Secrecy Act Advisory Group