Statutory Immunity for Suspicious Activity Reporting: Real or Imaginary Protection for Financial Institutions?

In 1997, an appellate court in the US issued an important decision in the consolidated appeals of Lopez v First Union National Bank of Florida and Coronado v Bank Atlantic Bancorp., Inc. The decision raises provocative issues concerning the scope of the immunity granted to financial institutions providing information to the federal government about their customers under US laws. In order to understand the impact of this decision, some factual background with respect to each of the cases and the relevant case law is required.