When responding to a subpoena in Illinois, both federal and Illinois laws could apply. Below is a summary of the major provisions that might apply to a subpoena. However, please note that we cannot provide legal advice, and any questions about a specific subpoena will likely have to be answered by bank counsel.

• Illinois law: The Illinois Banking Act allows banks to disclose customer financial records in response to a subpoena. 205 ILCS 5/48.1(c)(2).

• Illinois law further requires that the bank mail a copy of the subpoena to the customer that is the subject of the subpoena, unless the subpoena specifically prohibits the bank from doing so. 205 ILCS 5/48.1(d).

• The Illinois Banking Act states that banks “shall be reimbursed for costs that are reasonably necessary” in responding to a lawful subpoena or court order (205 ILCS 5/48.1(g)), as detailed in the Illinois regulations (38 Ill. Adm. Code, Part 356).

• Federal law: Similarly, the Gramm-Leach-Bliley Act allows banks to disclose customer financial records in response to a subpoena. 15 USC 6802(e)(8).

• The federal Right to Financial Privacy Act, which applies only to requests for information that come from the federal government, prohibits banks from responding to such requests “until the Government authority seeking such records certifies in writing to the financial institution that it has complied” with the law’s requirements (which involve mailing the subpoena to the customer and giving the customer time to respond to the subpoena). 12 USC 3403(b). The Right to Financial Privacy Act does not apply to most corporate customers. 12 USC 3401(5). (This law also provides for the reimbursement of any costs “reasonably necessary and which have been directly incurred in searching for, reproducing, or transporting” the requested information. 12 USC 3415.)

• Record retention: The Federal Reserve’s Supervisory Manual recommends the following record-retention procedures for subpoenas and other formal written requests: “[F]inancial institutions should retain copies of all administrative and judicial subpoenas, search warrants, and formal written requests given to them by federal government agencies or departments along with the written certification required.”

• SARs: If a bank receives as subpoena or other request for information regarding the filing of an SAR, the bank should “decline to produce the SAR or such information, citing this section and 31 U.S.C. 5318(g)(2)(A)(i), and shall notify FinCEN of any such request and the response thereto.” See 31 CFR 1020.320(e)(1). FinCEN’s guidance on SAR confidentiality more specifically states that a bank that has received a subpoena for a SAR should “immediately contact FinCEN’s Office of Chief Counsel at (703) 905-3590 as well as your primary federal regulator, as may be applicable in a corresponding SAR rule.” FIN-2010-A014 (November 23, 2010).