Which of the following statements is true regarding tipping off?
A.
Tipping off is an obligation only applied to AFC professionals and bank staff because they are required to file a Suspicious Activity Report (SAR).
B.
Tipping off is a criminal act whereby confidential information about a financial crime investigation is disclosed in an unauthorized manner to a third party who may be the subject of the investigation or able to prejudice it.
C.
Tipping off is not committed when detailed inquiries are made with a customer whose transactions have been flagged by a transaction monitoring system.
D.
When an unusual transaction is detected, an AFC professional can instruct the relationship manager to communicate with the customer to decide whether a SAR should be filed.
“Tipping off” is a serious offense under AML/CFT legislation in many jurisdictions and is consistently addressed in FATF standards. It occurs when confidential information relating to a suspicious transaction, SAR, or ongoing investigation is disclosed without authorization to a person who is the subject of the report or whose knowledge could compromise the investigation.
Such disclosures may alert criminals, allowing them to conceal evidence, move funds, or evade law enforcement. For this reason, tipping off is typically a criminal offense, not merely a breach of internal policy.
The prohibition applies broadly—not only to AFC professionals but to anyone with access to sensitive AML information. Making detailed or targeted inquiries with a customer after a transaction has been flagged can constitute tipping off if it reveals suspicion or investigative activity. Relationship managers must be carefully controlled and should not be instructed to probe customers in a way that signals suspicion.
Therefore, the correct statement is that tipping off is an unauthorized disclosure that can prejudice an investigation.
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