What Action Should a Bank Teller Perform?

D

In this scenario, the bank teller has received a written request from a police officer to review a previous customer's account on a pre-populated form with the officer's official letterhead. The officer suspects the previous customer is engaging in smurfing, which is a money laundering technique where individuals break up large transactions into smaller ones to avoid detection.

In such a situation, the bank teller should not provide the customer's account information without proper authorization and verification of the request. Therefore, options A and C are not appropriate responses.

Option B, which is to reject the police officer's request for the customer's account information and escalate it to the compliance officer, is a valid option. The compliance officer will then conduct further due diligence and determine if the request is legitimate and compliant with the bank's policies and regulations.

Option D, which is to escalate the request to the compliance officer without rejecting it, may not be the best course of action as it assumes the legitimacy of the request. The bank teller should not assume the authenticity of the request and should verify it with the compliance officer before taking any action.

In summary, the best action for the bank teller in this scenario is to reject the request for the customer's account information and escalate it to the compliance officer for further investigation and authorization. This ensures that the bank is compliant with anti-money laundering regulations and protects the customer's privacy.