12 U.S.C. § 3403 — Confidentiality of financial records

Page 1536 TITLE 12—BANKS AND BANKING § 3403 Statutory Notes and Related Subsidiaries EFFECTIVE DATE Section effective upon the expiration of 120 days after Nov. 10, 1978, see section 2101 of Pub. L. 95–630, set out as a note under section 375b of this title. § 3403. Confidentiality of financial records (a) Release of records by financial institutions prohibited No financial institution, or officer, employees, or agent of a financial institution, may provide to any Government authority access to or copies of, or the information contained in, the finan- cial records of any customer except in accord- ance with the provisions of this chapter. (b) Release of records upon certification of com- pliance with chapter A financial institution shall not release the fi- nancial records of a customer until the Govern- ment authority seeking such records certifies in writing to the financial institution that it has complied with the applicable provisions of this chapter. (c) Notification to Government authority of exist- ence of relevant information in records Nothing in this chapter shall preclude any fi- nancial institution, or any officer, employee, or agent of a financial institution, from notifying a Government authority that such institution, or officer, employee, or agent has information which may be relevant to a possible violation of any statute or regulation. Such information may include only the name or other identifying information concerning any individual, corpora- tion, or account involved in and the nature of any suspected illegal activity. Such information may be disclosed notwithstanding any constitu- tion, law, or regulation of any State or political subdivision thereof to the contrary. Any finan- cial institution, or officer, employee, or agent thereof, making a disclosure of information pur- suant to this subsection, shall not be liable to the customer under any law or regulation of the United States or any constitution, law, or regu- lation of any State or political subdivision thereof, for such disclosure or for any failure to notify the customer of such disclosure. (d) Release of records as incident to perfection of security interest, proving a claim in bank- ruptcy, collecting a debt, or processing an application with regard to a Government loan, loan guarantee, etc. (1) Nothing in this chapter shall preclude a fi- nancial institution, as an incident to perfecting a security interest, proving a claim in bank- ruptcy, or otherwise collecting on a debt owing either to the financial institution itself or in its role as a fiduciary, from providing copies of any financial record to any court or Government au- thority. (2) Nothing in this chapter shall preclude a fi- nancial institution, as an incident to processing an application for assistance to a customer in the form of a Government loan, loan guaranty, or loan insurance agreement, or as an incident to processing a default on, or administering, a Government guaranteed or insured loan, from initiating contact with an appropriate Govern- ment authority for the purpose of providing any financial record necessary to permit such au- thority to carry out its responsibilities under a loan, loan guaranty, or loan insurance agree- ment. (Pub. L. 95–630, title XI, § 1103, Nov. 10, 1978, 92 Stat. 3698; Pub. L. 99–570, title I, § 1353(a), Oct. 27, 1986, 100 Stat. 3207–21; Pub. L. 100–690, title VI, § 6186(a), Nov. 18, 1988, 102 Stat. 4357.) Editorial Notes AMENDMENTS 1988—Subsec. (c). Pub. L. 100–690 inserted ‘‘, corporation,’’ after ‘‘individual’’. 1986—Subsec. (c). Pub. L. 99–570 inserted provisions that the disclosure of only the name or other identi- fying information concerning any individual or account involved in and the nature of any suspected illegal ac- tivity is permitted notwithstanding any constitution, law, or regulation of any State or political subdivision thereof to the contrary, and any financial institutions, officers, agents, or employees thereof making such dis- closure shall not be liable to the customer under any State constitution or any Federal, State, or local law or regulation for such disclosure or failure to notify the customer thereof. Statutory Notes and Related Subsidiaries EFFECTIVE DATE Section effective upon the expiration of 120 days after Nov. 10, 1978, see section 2101 of Pub. L. 95–630, set out as a note under section 375b of this title. § 3404. Customer authorizations (a) Statement furnished by customer to financial institution and Government authority; con- tents A customer may authorize disclosure under section 3402(1) of this title if he furnishes to the financial institution and to the Government au- thority seeking to obtain such disclosure a signed and dated statement which— (1) authorizes such disclosure for a period not in excess of three months; (2) states that the customer may revoke such authorization at any time before the fi- nancial records are disclosed; (3) identifies the financial records which are authorized to be disclosed; (4) specifies the purposes for which, and the Government authority to which, such records may be disclosed; and (5) states the customer’s rights under this chapter. (b) Authorization as condition of doing business prohibited No such authorization shall be required as a condition of doing business with any financial institution. (c) Right of customer to access to financial insti- tution’s record of disclosures The customer has the right, unless the Gov- ernment authority obtains a court order as pro- vided in section 3409 of this title, to obtain a copy of the record which the financial institu- tion shall keep of all instances in which the cus- tomer’s record is disclosed to a Government au- thority pursuant to this section, including the