Client Email on a Missing $1.2 Million Wire
You are a relationship manager at a commercial bank. At 9:10 a.m., the CFO of a client that represents 12% of your book emails: 'We wired $1.2 million yesterday to pay off loan 4471. Your system still shows past due. This is unacceptable; we will escalate to your CEO.' You check: the nostro account shows no incoming wire; the credit system will roll the loan to 30 days past due at midnight and assess a $2,500 late fee. Compliance instructs: do not confirm receipt, do not accuse the client, and do not admit liability. The client is upset and copied its outside counsel. You have one hour to reply. You can request a waiver of the late fee, but you cannot promise it. You need the Fed reference number, wire confirmation, and sending bank details.
1. Draft a subject line and the first three sentences of the reply. They must be accurate, non-accusatory, and action-forcing.
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Subject: Trace initiated - $1.2m wire for loan 4471 - documents requested
Opening: 'Thank you for flagging this; I understand the urgency. Our operations team has opened a trace on the $1.2 million payment you reference and is checking our nostro records now. To help us locate it quickly, please send the Fed reference number, the wire confirmation, and the sending bank's contact details.'
Why this works:
- 'Trace initiated' shows action without confirming receipt.
- '$1.2m wire for loan 4471' is specific and matches the client's reference, which reduces the chance of a misdirected reply.
- 'Payment you reference' avoids adopting the client's assertion that the wire was sent correctly.
- The request is concrete and time-bound by implication. It gives the client a constructive next step rather than a defense.
Do not write 'we have not received it' in the first sentence. That is a factual assertion that may be overtaken by events and reads as a denial. The trace is the safer frame.
2. Choose between 'We have not received the wire' and 'Our records do not yet show the wire.' Explain the difference in legal and relational risk, and revise the weaker option.
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Choose 'Our records do not yet show the wire.'
- 'We have not received the wire' is a broad factual assertion. If the funds are later located in a suspense account or an intermediary bank, the statement can be contradicted. It also sounds accusatory: it implies the client is wrong before the trace is complete. In a dispute, it may be quoted as a definitive bank position.
- 'Our records do not yet show the wire' is narrower and time-bound. It describes the current state of the bank's records, not the universe of what happened. It preserves the possibility of a processing delay and does not assign fault.
Revised weaker option: 'As of 9:30 a.m. today, our records do not show the incoming wire; we have opened a trace and will update you by 3:00 p.m.'
This version adds a timestamp and a commitment. The relational benefit is that the client sees a process, not a stone wall. The legal benefit is that the bank has not admitted liability or made an unqualified factual claim.
3. Propose a 24-hour action plan and a sentence on the late fee that does not promise a waiver.
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24-hour action plan:
- 10:00 a.m.: send the document request and open an internal case number.
- 11:00 a.m.: operations traces the Fed reference with the sending bank and checks intermediary banks and suspense accounts.
- 1:00 p.m.: send the client a status update even if there is no result; silence is worse than a negative update.
- 3:00 p.m.: ask credit to place a temporary hold on the late-fee assessment while the trace is open.
- Next business day: reconcile the loan 4471 account and confirm in writing whether the wire was applied, returned, or still in transit.
Late-fee sentence: 'I have asked our credit team to review the late-fee assessment while the trace is open, and I will confirm the outcome in writing.'
This does not promise a waiver. It commits only to a review and a written response. If the client presses for a guarantee, repeat the process commitment and avoid speculating about fault.