Right to Financial Privacy Act

RFPA establishes specific procedures that federal government officials must follow when seeking customer financial information from a financial institution and imposes certain steps financial institutions must follow before releasing information. Generally, the customer must receive a written notice of the government’s intent to obtain the records, explain why the records are being requested, and explain what steps the customer can follow to protect the information. However, there are a number of exceptions to when notice must be provided to a customer as well as restrictions on a customer’s ability to prevent the information from being released.