To trace wire transfers, which documents should be obtained and analyzed?

• A. Both originator's and beneficiary's account statements
• B. Originator's account statement
• C. Bank transfer notification
• D. Beneficiary's account statement

Answer: (C)

The most reliable starting point for tracing a wire transfer is the bank's transfer notification. This document is the bank’s formal record that a wire was initiated, processed, or received, and it typically includes the key details needed to map the transfer: the sender and recipient names or account identifiers, the amount, the date and time, the transfer reference or control number, and any routing or intermediary bank information. Because it is issued by the bank handling the transaction, it provides a time-stamped, auditable trail that can be cross-checked against other records to follow the funds through correspondent banks and across systems.

Originator or beneficiary account statements can show that activity occurred, but they don’t provide the bank-generated transfer instruction or the official reference data that ties the event to a specific wire and its path. Those statements are useful for corroboration, but the transfer notification is the definitive document for reconstructing the transfer flow.