Which items would be considered suspicious when a new customer expresses interest in banking services?

• A. The customer asks many questions about the brokerage account, but none about fees.
• B. The customer provides an address far from the bank branch.
• C. The customer is interested in both commercial and personal accounts.
• D. The customer has never had a brokerage account before.

Answer: (A)

The choice highlighting that the customer asks many questions about the brokerage account, but none about fees, is considered suspicious because it may indicate a lack of genuine interest in understanding the costs associated with the account. In a typical scenario, a prospective customer would want to know about fees, as they are a critical factor in evaluating the value of banking services. The absence of questions about fees raises a red flag, suggesting that the customer might have ulterior motives, such as seeking to manipulate the services without fully engaging with the implications of costs.

The other scenarios may not inherently suggest suspicious behavior. For instance, providing an address far from the bank branch might reflect geographical preference rather than suspicious intent. An interest in both commercial and personal accounts could be normal for a customer who may want to manage different types of financial needs in tandem. Similarly, the fact that the customer has never had a brokerage account might simply indicate a novice in financial matters rather than a suspicious character. Thus, the focus on fee-related queries specifically points to a potentially deceptive or uninformed approach to banking, making it noteworthy in terms of anti-money laundering scrutiny.