Section 14 of PMLA provides civil immunity to banking

Solution

Section 14 of PMLA provides that, save as otherwise provided in Section 13, banking companies, financial institutions, intermediaries, and their officers shall not be liable to any civil proceedings against them for furnishing information under clause (b) of Section 12(1). Section 12(1)(b) requires furnishing information of prescribed transactions to the Director within the prescribed time. This immunity protects reporting entities from being sued by customers whose suspicious transactions they have reported. This is a critical protection because, without it, banks would face civil liability for breach of confidentiality. This mirrors the tipping-off protection and immunity provisions found in international AML frameworks.