# Tipping-off

**Tipping-off is disclosing to a customer, or to any other third party, that its transactions or activities are being or have been assessed for possible reporting, that a suspicious transaction report has been, is being or will be filed, or that a money-laundering or terrorist-financing analysis is or may be under way.** EU law prohibits it. The prohibition also shapes how and when a firm contacts a customer about a concern.

*Also called:* prohibition of disclosure.

## Why it matters for PSPs and EMIs

Tipping-off rarely happens through an explicit statement. It happens through ordinary onboarding steps taken at the wrong moment: a rejection letter that names the concern, a request for documents that only makes sense if the firm suspects something, or verifying a person's identity in a way that reveals doubts about the company's ownership. The safe order is: assess reportability first, then decide what the customer is told.

## What the law says

- **The prohibition.** AMLR Art. 73(1): firms and their directors, employees, agents and distributors must not disclose to the customer concerned or to other third persons that transactions or activities are being or have been assessed under Art. 69, that information is being, will be or has been transmitted to the FIU, or that an analysis is being or may be carried out.
- **Exceptions.** AMLR Art. 73(2) to (5): disclosures to competent authorities and for law-enforcement purposes; within a group under group-wide policies; and between obliged entities involved in the same transaction, under conditions.
- **Built into due diligence.** AMLR Art. 22(2), third subparagraph: where verifying senior managing officials could tip off the customer that the firm doubts the ownership information, the firm abstains from that verification and records the steps it took instead.
- **Explanations to customers.** AMLR Art. 76(5)(c): a customer may obtain an explanation of an automated decision and challenge it, except in relation to a suspicious transaction report.
- **Current law.** Directive (EU) 2015/849, Art. 39; in Belgium, Law of 18 September 2017, Art. 55.
- **International standard.** FATF Recommendation 21 (tipping-off and confidentiality).

## How ProofVolt handles it

In ProofVolt, when a case carries a criminal, enforcement, sanctions or asset-freeze finding, customer contact — a document request, a rejection or a follow-up — waits for the MLRO's signed reportability assessment. No officer can override that hold, so the customer is not contacted about a potentially reportable finding before the assessment is made.

## Related

- [Suspicious activity report (SAR/STR)](/glossary/suspicious-activity-report/)
- [MLRO](/glossary/mlro/)
- [Senior managing official](/glossary/senior-managing-official/)

Canonical: https://proofvolt.eu/glossary/tipping-off/