12 U.S.C. § 3401 — Definitions

“financial institution”, except as provided in section 3414 of this title, means any office of a bank, savings bank, card issuer as defined in section 1602(n) 1 of title 15, industrial loan company, trust company, savings association, building and loan, or homestead association (including cooperative banks), credit^* union, or consumer^* finance institution, located in any State^* or territory of the United States, the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico, Guam, American Samoa, or the Virgin Islands;

“financial record” means an original of, a copy of, or information known to have been derived from, any record held by a financial institution pertaining to a customer’s relationship with the financial institution;

“Government authority” means any agency or department of the United States, or any officer, employee, or agent thereof;

“person^*” means an individual or a partnership of five or fewer individuals;

“customer” means any person or authorized representative of that person who utilized or is utilizing any service of a financial institution, or for whom a financial institution is acting or has acted as a fiduciary, in relation to an account maintained in the person’s name;

“holding company” means—

“supervisory agency” means with respect to any particular financial institution, holding company, or any subsidiary of a financial institution or holding company, any of the following which has statutory authority to examine the financial condition, business operations, or records or transactions of that institution, holding company, or subsidiary—

“law enforcement inquiry” means a lawful investigation or official proceeding inquiring into a violation of, or failure to comply with, any criminal or civil statute or any regulation, rule, or order issued pursuant thereto.