We believe it was appropriate to aggregate the transactions. Because both of the withdrawals from the spouses’ joint account benefitted the husband, the CTR filing requirements appear to require aggregation.

In general, multiple transactions in a single day should be aggregated when “the financial institution has knowledge that they are by or on behalf of any person.” In the context of a joint deposit account held by two spouses, FinCEN has stated that the spouses’ transactions should be aggregated “only if [the financial institution] has knowledge that the transaction was also being conducted on [the other spouse’s] behalf.” (In the absence of such knowledge, a bank “would neither be required to nor prohibited from” aggregating the transactions.)

Your bank had knowledge that both cash withdrawals were conducted on the husband’s behalf — to pay for his mother’s medical treatment. Consequently, we believe that your bank was required, or at least permitted, to aggregate the withdrawals. No CTR amendment should be necessary.

For resources related to our guidance, please see:

• FinCEN Regulations, 31 CFR 1010.313(b) (“. . . multiple currency transactions shall be treated as a single transaction if the financial institution has knowledge that they are by or on behalf of any person and result in either cash in or cash out totaling more than $10,000 during any one business day . . . .”)

• FinCEN FAQs on the FinCEN CTR, #24 (“Since John Smith made a withdrawal from the joint account in excess of $10,000, then the financial institution would list Jane Smith’s information only if it has knowledge that the transaction was also being conducted on her behalf. If the financial institution does not have knowledge that the withdrawal was conducted on behalf of Jane Smith, then it would neither be required to nor prohibited from listing Jane Smith in a second Part I.”)