(a) 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 financial records of any customer except in accordance
with the provisions of this title.
(b) A financial
institution shall not release the financial records of a customer
until the Government authority seeking such records certifies in writing
to the financial institution that it has complied with the applicable
provisions of this title.
(c) Nothing in this title
shall preclude any financial 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, corporation, or account involved in and
the nature of any suspected illegal activity. Such information may
be disclosed notwithstanding any constitution, law, or regulation
of any State or political subdivision thereof to the contrary. Any
financial institution, or officer, employee, or agent thereof, making
a disclosure of information pursuant to this subsection, shall not
be liable to the customer under any law or regulation of the United
States or any constitution, law, or regulation of any State or political
subdivision thereof, for such disclosure or for any failure to notify
the customer of such disclosure.
6-1755
(d) (1) Nothing in
this title shall preclude a financial institution, as an incident
to perfecting a security interest, proving a claim in bankruptcy,
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 authority.
(2) Nothing in this title shall
preclude a financial 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 Government
authority for the purpose of providing any financial record necessary
to permit such authority to carry out its responsibilities under a
loan, loan guaranty, or loan insurance agreement.
[12 USC 3403. As amended
by acts of Oct. 27, 1986 (100 Stat. 3207-21) and Nov. 18, 1988 (102
Stat. 4357).]
