No, you are not required to send account statements to deceased customers that are being returned to your bank. In fact, it is advisable to discontinue mailing periodic statements (whether monthly or yearly) to a customer that you know is deceased, in order to prevent the statements containing personal financial information from falling into the wrong hands. Instead, you should retain copies of all subsequent account statements for these customers until an executor, administrator, trustee or other appropriate representative of the deceased customer requests the information.

For resources related to our guidance, please see:

• Illinois Banking Act, 205 ILCS 5/48.1(a)(2) (Customer information protected by the Illinois Banking Act’s privacy requirements includes “a statement, ledger card or other record on any deposit or account, which shows each transaction in or with respect to that account.”)

• Regulation P, 12 CFR 1016.3(q)(2)(i) (Customer information protected by Regulation P’s privacy requirements includes “(B) Account balance information, payment history . . . (C) The fact that an individual is or has been one of your customers . . . .”)

• UCC, 810 ILCS 5/4-406(c) (If a bank sends or makes available a statement of account or items . . . the customer must exercise reasonable promptness in examining the statement or the items to determine whether any payment was not authorized. . . )