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     The better method is that once the financial institution has been properly served with a subpoena or search warrant to obtain customer information pursuant to N.D.C.C. § 6-08.1-05, the financial institution should demand or negotiate for cost reimbursement under N.D.C.C. § 6-08.1-07. This statute provides in pertinent part that the requesting party pay to the financial institution that assembles or provides the customer information a fee for reimbursement of "reasonably necessary costs which have been directly incurred by the financial institution." Also, keep in mind that the financial institution must deliver the customer information sought as soon as reasonably possible even if the there is a dispute concerning the amount of reimbursement due.

     There is a tendency for those in financial institutions to think that filing a Suspicious Activity Report (SAR) under the Bank Secrecy Act is required only for insider exploitation. This is a mistake. All financial institutions operating in the U.S, including insured banks, savings associations, credit unions, bank holding companies, and non-bank subsidiaries of bank holding companies are required to file a SAR following the discovery of insider abuse involving any amount, violations aggregating $5,000 or more where a suspect can be identified, violations aggregating $25,000 or more regardless of a potential suspect, or transactions aggregating $5,000 or more that involve potential money laundering or violations of the Bank Secrecy Act. For an example most common to North Dakota, a SAR must be filed where a debtor sells collateral worth at least $5,000 out of trust or whenever a debtor's fraudulent actions lead the institution to actually suffer or face a loss of more than $5,000.

     The SAR rules require that a SAR be filed no later than 30 calendar days from the date of the initial detection of the suspicious activity, unless no suspect can be identified, in which case, the time period for filing a SAR is extended to 60 days. Institutions should conduct a review of the activity to determine whether a need exists to file a SAR. The fact that a review of customer activity or transactions is determined to be necessary is not necessarily indicative of the need to file a SAR, even if a reasonable review of the activity or transactions might take an extended period of time. The time to file a SAR starts when the organization, in the course of its review or on account of other factors, reaches the position in which it knows, or has reason to suspect, that the activity or transactions under review meets one or more of the definitions of suspicious activity. An expeditious review can be of significant assistance to law enforcement; in situations involving violations of law requiring immediate attention, the organization should promptly notify appropriate law enforcement and supervisory authorities, in addition to filing a SAR.

     One of the purposes of filing a SAR is to identify violations or potential violations of law to the proper law enforcement authorities for criminal investigation and is accomplished by the filing of a SAR that identifies the activity of concern. Should this activity continue over a period of time, it is useful for such information to be made known to law enforcement (and the bank supervisors). Generally, institutions should report continuing suspicious activity with a report being filed at least every 90 days. This will notify law enforcement of the continuing nature of the activity, as well as provide a reminder to the institution that it must continue to review the suspicious activity to determine if other actions may be appropriate, such as terminating its relationship with the customer or employee that is the subject of the filing.

     Closure of a customer account as the result of the identification of suspicious activity is a determination for an institution to make in light of the information available to the institution. A filing of a SAR, on its own, should not be the basis for terminating a customer relationship. Rather, a determination should be made with the knowledge of the facts and circumstances giving rise to the SAR filing, as well as other available information that could tend to impact on such a decision. It may be advisable to include the organization's counsel, as well as other senior staff, in such determinations.

     Federal law (31 U.S.C. 5318(g)(2)) prohibits the notification of any person that is involved in the activity being reported on a SAR that the activity has been reported. This restriction prevents the disclosure of a SAR or even the fact that a SAR has been filed. However, this prohibition does not preclude, under federal law, a disclosure in an appropriate manner of the facts that are the basis of the SAR, so long as the disclosure is not made in a way that indicates or implies that a SAR has been filed or that the particular information is included on a filed SAR.

     The prohibition against disclosure can raise special issues when SAR records are sought by subpoena or court order. The SAR regulations direct organizations facing those issues to contact their primary supervisor, as well the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN), a bureau of the Department of the Treasury to obtain guidance and direction on how to proceed. In several matters to date, government agencies have intervened to ensure that the protection for filing organizations and the integrity of the data contained within the SAR database remain intact.

     You've been to the seminars, you have talked to your attorney, you have read parts of the statute. There are some changes to the law, and we have listed a few of the changes that you should bear in mind each time you do a filing.